


You're My Wildfire Every Single Night

by asroarke



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Body Image, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining, Past Abuse, Pining, Protective!Bellamy, Single mom!Clarke, Wedding Fluff, Weight Issues, clarke giving bellamy stitches, concussed bellamy making delirious confessions, drunk voicemails, drunk!bellamy, minor sea mechanic, post 4x13, runaway bride!clarke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-04-07 14:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14082717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asroarke/pseuds/asroarke
Summary: This is where I'll be posting my 2018 Tumblr prompt fills and small drabbles. It'll be a mix of canonverse and modernverse, but each chapter will be labeled with the prompt it comes from. Happy reading!





	1. It Won't Always Be Like This

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt from queentheea: OKAY I can’t get this idea out of my head for post s4 fic where Bellamy and crew finally come back down in the heat of chaos and then later on some good old angst where Bellamy washes the blood from Clarke’s hands as she cries over the first time she’s killed in 6 years and you just write the best angst smh
> 
> Chapter list:  
> 1\. canonverse post Praimfaya where Bellamy helps Clarke wash the blood off her hands
> 
> 2\. modernverse where Clarke's abusive ex won't leave her alone and Bellamy pretends to be her boyfriend
> 
> 3\. modernverse established relationship where Clarke has body image issues and Bellamy convinces her she's beautiful
> 
> 4\. canonverse post Praimfaya where Bellamy gets a concussion and Clarke takes care of him
> 
> 5\. modernverse where Bellamy drunkenly tells Clarke he loves her via voicemail the night before she marries Finn Collins
> 
> 6\. canonverse post Praimfaya parallel to the "I know who Oppenheimer is" season one snark
> 
> 7\. canonverse post Praimfaya where Clarke is obsessed with his freckles
> 
> 8\. modernverse exes getting back together
> 
> 9\. modernverse pining Bellamy who walks in on Clarke singing with headphones in her ears and he's all flustered
> 
> 10\. canonverse 505 spec
> 
> 11\. modernverse office fic where single mom Clarke is scared to date again because she doesn't want Madi getting hurt
> 
> 12\. modernverse angsty post-break up fic
> 
> 13\. modernverse childhood soulmates drabble
> 
> 14\. modernverse wedding date fic

“I know I kept complaining that I missed Earth, but this is not what I meant,” Murphy grumbled, and Bellamy let out a sigh of relief. If he was able to crack jokes at a time like this, Murphy would be just fine.

Bellamy surveyed the area again, looking over all the Eligius people scattered across the ground. “We need to get out of here before the rest of their people see what we did,” Bellamy whispered, his mind drifting back to the memory of Polis after the City of Light was destroyed. He hated how they had come back to _this_. Six years in space didn’t make him forget what kind of hell they came from, but the memories dulled. It was the only way he could stay sane.

Monty was making quick work of picking up their packs, heading over to the rover Clarke had been driving all these years. _Clarke_ , his brain repeated. He still wasn’t used to thinking of her as something other than a memory. The wind had been knocked out of him the second he caught a glimpse of blonde… he swore he had been dreaming. It wasn’t too unrealistic for it to have been one of his dreams, after all. He had too many over the years where he came back to Earth to find that same golden hair breaking through the visions of radiation… but she was always dead before he got to her.

But Clarke was far from dead, and she had a daughter now, Madi. Bellamy glanced over his shoulder, seeing that the two of them had not moved from the tree that Clarke dragged her to as soon as she killed the guard who grabbed ahold of Madi. The child’s face was buried into Clarke’s chest, and he could see her murmuring something to her, trying desperately to comfort the _child_ who just saw war for the very first time. Clarke rested her head on top of hers as Madi heaved into Clarke’s shirt, her eyes flickering up to meet Bellamy’s with an all too familiar sadness behind them. He saw that sadness to many times at the Dropship, on that entire walk back from Mt. Weather, when she had to tell him about Praimfaya… _too many times_.

“Welcome home,” Raven grumbled darkly beside him, and Bellamy shuddered at those words. 

“We need to move,” he muttered, and Raven started getting the others to head toward the rover.

Once they were all inside, they fell into silence except for the occasional direction from Clarke. There would be plenty of time to discuss strategy once they had all calmed down and the injuries were dealt with. Right now, Bellamy needed to focus on getting all of them as far away from the Eligius people as he possibly could.

Clarke led him to a small clearing that she and Madi would make camp at, explaining that they are only halfway to where she had been staying and they wouldn’t make it before nightfall.

The silence continued as they made camp. Clarke and Harper tended to Murphy and Echo’s injuries, which were luckily pretty minor considering. Bellamy tried to keep from stealing glances at Clarke, but it was hard not to. He kept wanting to confirm that what he was seeing was _real_.

Luckily, Raven finally distracted him with discussing the Eligius group. He, Monty, and Raven separated from the others to discuss it quietly. Apparently, Raven had read a few things about the mining company a long time ago but still didn’t have enough information to explain how or why they were here.

When they decided to bring the subject back to the group, Clarke was gone. “Where did she go?” Bellamy asked Madi, who was considerably calmer than she was just after the attack.

“There’s a creek over there,” Madi said sheepishly, gesturing toward a clump of trees. “She wanted to wash the blood off.”

Bellamy swallowed, taking that sentence in. It was a sentence he never wanted to hear in his life, yet here he was. “You stay here. I’ll be right back,” he reassured, patting Madi on the shoulder before taking off in the direction she pointed to.

He could hear Murphy shouting something at him, but Bellamy didn’t bother to listen. Madi was right about the creek. It was just a five-minute walk from where they made camp, and it didn’t take long for Bellamy to spot Clarke kneeling beside it.

“You really about to go off by yourself after what just happened?” Bellamy said, a bit sharper than he intended. Clarke jumped as she turned back to look at him, and he could see how tears had been staining her cheeks.

“I have a gun,” she muttered before turning away from him. “Sorry, I’m just not used to worrying about other people out here.” Bellamy swallowed, thinking over the fact that for years, Clarke had been walking this Earth all alone. And _he_ let that happen when he left her behind.

He kneeled down beside her, knowing that he had to say _something_ to comfort her. It was the least that he owed her after what he did. “Clarke,” he whispered, watching the intensity with which she was scrubbing at her hands. “Talk to me. I know that what happened out there was—”

“I killed someone,” she cut him off, not taking her eyes off her own hands as she scrubbed away at the blood. “I forgot what it felt like to take a life… it’s been six years since I’ve had to be that kind of _monster_.”

Bellamy flinched at those words, remembering that he too had gone six years since killing someone. It was terrifying how easily he jumped back into it, taking a shot the second he saw that guard make a move toward Clarke. “You aren’t a monster,” Bellamy snapped, taking her hands in his.

“It doesn’t matter how many years pass, does it? I’m never going to completely wash this blood off me. I never do,” she sobbed, and Bellamy could see the same Clarke he left on Earth all those years ago. A lot had changed in six years. Clarke had changed, he had changed… but _this_ didn’t.

Bellamy didn’t know what to say to her. He didn’t have a speech prepared. He wasn’t about to give her the “who we are and who we have to be to survive” speech again, nor was he going to lie to her and say that it was all going to be okay. He didn’t know if any of it would be okay. He didn’t know what was happening with the bunker. He didn’t know what the Eligius group wanted. And he didn’t know if any of them would live long enough to get answers to these questions.

So, Bellamy did the only thing he _could_ do at this exact moment: he started washing the dried blood off Clarke’s fingers, wrists, palm… She didn’t say anything, and neither did he. All he could hear was the sound of her sobs slowing and the movement of the creek water beside them. Once he got most of the blood off her fingers, he gently started moving up her arms to get where the blood had splattered.

“It won’t always be like this,” he blurted out. Clarke let out a sniffle, and he finally allowed himself to look back up at her. Her eyes were still a bit puffy from the tears, but she was calm again. Looking at her now, it was like only moments had passed instead of six whole years.

“You don’t know that,” Clarke murmured, and he let his hand slip into hers. Her eyes widened at the contact, but she didn’t jump. He let out a breath as soon as her fingers interlaced with his.

“It won’t always be like this,” he repeated, although it probably sounded a bit like a prayer.

“Bell—”

He cut her off by enveloping her in his arms, and he let himself bury his face into her hair. She still fit just as perfectly in his arms, and he wasn’t sure he was ever going to let go of her again. He wasn’t strong enough to. He used up all his strength the last time he let her go.

His eyes finally gave in after a long day of threatening to and let the tears fall. He could barely make out the soft whispers coming from Clarke, instead focusing on the uniquely Earth scent in Clarke’s hair or the way her hand slowly rubbed up and down his back as he let the tears out.

“Maybe you’re right,” he finally heard her say, and he popped his head up to look at her. “Maybe it won’t always be like this.” He could tell by her face that she didn’t believe it. Truth be told, neither did he. But it was the lie that they needed if they were going to keep getting out of bed in the morning, if they were going to keep doing whatever it took to keep their people safe. He was going to keep believing the lie, probably until his heart stopped beating. He still had hope for their people, for his family, for _her_.


	2. Don't You Dare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt from youleftme-clarke: ‘my current partner is possessive and violent and i need a reason to break up with them so will you pretend to be my ex’ bellarke au with super protective bellamy?
> 
> So, I got a little carried away with this one. It’s not exactly what you asked for, but it’s still got lots of protective Bellamy (and pining Bellamy tbh). I hope you still like it! I just had a hard time pulling off the whole current partner versus ex Bellamy and it ended up being a Bellamy pretending to be Clarke’s new boyfriend when her abusive ex didn’t take the hint.

Bellamy was washing down the counter when Raven popped out of the kitchen. “You’re supposed to be helping Murphy,” he grumbled as Raven hopped over the counter.

“Clarke is helping Murphy now. I’m taking Clarke’s job for the night,” she whispered, and Bellamy furrowed his brows in confusion. Raven _hated_ being out here with the customers, and Clarke would do just about anything to stay the hell away from Murphy.

“Why are you whispering?” he huffed. It wasn’t like anyone was sitting at the bar yet. There were only two customers in the place: Miller and some random guy that just got a beer before sitting in the corner.

“Do you see that guy over there?” Raven whispered, tilting her head back in the direction of the guy sitting off in the corner. “That’s Clarke’s ex.”

“Okay, but what does that have to do with…”

Bellamy trailed off as soon as he remembered what Raven had told him a few weeks ago when she asked him to give Clarke a job at the bar. He had done his best to put the story of what happened to Clarke out of his head, mainly because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. How anyone could have someone like her and treat her like that was beyond Bellamy.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Bellamy snapped before Raven shushed him. 

“Doesn’t matter and you’re not going to start anything. I’ve switched with Clarke so he doesn’t even see her. It’s handled,” Raven said carefully, and Bellamy clenched his jaw.

It didn’t matter how many times Raven reassured him that the situation was under control… Bellamy was becoming angrier and angrier by the second. Thank God a large group of people came in within a few minutes otherwise Bellamy might have snapped. He welcomed the distraction of the loud frat boys and their cheap tastes in beer.

But as soon as things calmed down again and Clarke’s abusive ex was still _there_ , Bellamy started to get worked up again. “Take your break,” Raven snapped, jerking him out of his glare across the bar. He grumbled as he made his way into the back. It wasn’t like he was going to tell the guy off or start a fight with him… at least not in front of witnesses. Bellamy had himself under control. He wasn’t the same hotheaded kid who got into fights throughout high school. He had grown, he had learned.

He took a step outside, feeling better as soon the cool air hit his skin. “Oh shit,” he heard someone say, and he turned to see Clarke Griffin pushing herself up to her feet.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, wincing as he saw her push away a few dried tears.

“Yeah, I’m good. I was just about to get back to work,” she muttered as she tried to walk around him.

“Clarke, it’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, and she blinked a few times as she stared back at him.

“Oh,” she whispered, her face relaxing a bit, “you _know_.” Bellamy swallowed as he tucked his hands back into his pockets. He did promise Raven that he would never tell Clarke that he knew… but it must have been obvious by the way he was checking up on her.

“Raven was really freaked out when it all happened and needed someone to talk to,” he tried to explain, but Clarke waved him off.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, looking down at her feet.

“So, uh, do you want to be alone right now, or do you not want to be alone or maybe want to talk about it?” he stuttered out, not even sure that was an actual coherent question. He ran his fingers nervously through his hair, trying to figure out what he could say to her to make her feel any better. Bellamy was normally good with words, but this was uncharted territory for him. And while he liked Clarke, he didn’t know her all that well yet. All he knew was that her boyfriend hurt her and that she had to run to Raven’s just to feel safe again.

“You can stay I guess,” she teased weakly, and Bellamy let out a breath. The two of them settled their backs against the brick wall behind them, falling into a comfortable silence. After a while, they started talking… and within minutes, Clarke felt okay enough to go back inside.

When he came back into the bar, he was much calmer than when he went. It helped that he now knew a little bit more about what happened between Clarke and her ex… enough to reassure Bellamy that the guy wouldn’t try anything at the bar. That didn’t stop Bellamy from checking the work schedules for the week on his way in to make sure that Clarke only worked hours that Bellamy also worked.

“Everything okay while I was gone?” Bellamy asked as he slid behind the counter, relieved to see that her ex had finally taken off for the night. “What made him leave?”

“Well…” Raven said with a concerning expression on her face.

“Raven.”

“I might have lied to him when he asked about where Clarke was,” she said hesitantly.

“Well, if it got rid of him, who cares?”

“You might,” Raven winced, and Bellamy furrowed his brows at her. “Look, I just said that Clarke was taking her break with her boyfriend, figuring that he would get the picture and move on. And it doesn’t hurt that I told him it was you and you’re a terrifying looking guy sometimes.”

“I am not,” he huffed.

“Not when someone knows you for the soft nerd you are. But to him? You’re the guy who spent the entire night seething in his direction and look like you could break him in half. It was a good lie and he’ll probably stop calling Clarke all the time now,” Raven said.

“You get to go tell her that you volunteered me to be her fake boyfriend,” Bellamy huffed, gesturing to the kitchen.

* * *

Bellamy tried dialing Clarke’s number again… certain this was kind of mistake. But it kept telling him that her phone had been disconnected. “When was the last time you heard from Clarke?” he huffed as he slammed his phone back down.

“Yesterday when I saw her at work,” Murphy grumbled. Bellamy started dialing Raven, hoping that Clarke was still at her apartment and nothing had happened to her. “You’re getting real worked up over a girl who you called ‘princess’ the first two weeks she worked here.”

“Why the fuck are you calling me?” Raven shouted as the back door swung open and Bellamy rushed out of the kitchen.

“Clarke’s phone says it’s disconnected,” Bellamy snapped, but Raven didn’t seem even phased by this.

“Probably because she switched numbers,” Raven huffed as she brushed past him. “Wanted that asshole to stop calling her.”

“He is still calling her?” Bellamy growled. He remembered to flex his hand as soon as the fist formed… but it did little to relax him. It had been weeks since that jerk first showed his face at the bar. He had shown up three times since then. And now, apparently, he had still been calling Clarke.

“Yeah. Like I said, he’s stalking her and is trying to get her back,” Raven said solemnly before handing her phone over to Bellamy. “That’s her new number.”

Bellamy plugged her new info into his phone, relieved that there was nothing actually _wrong_ with Clarke. For a moment, he had contemplated calling the police. Thank God Raven came in on time for work today.

Once Murphy and Raven started getting into their usual pre-opening argument, Bellamy slipped out toward the bar and began to take down all the chairs. Raven’s girlfriend Luna knocked on the window, and Bellamy let out a sigh as he let her in. “You know we don’t open for another twenty minutes,” he teased, and Luna rolled her eyes.

“Hey!” Raven shouted as she jogged in, and Bellamy made his way to the counter so he wasn’t a third wheel. “You gonna be around for a bit?”

“No, I picked up another shift tonight but wanted to stop by before. You’re still coming over after work, right?” Luna asked, and Bellamy’s head perked up.

“Yeah,” Raven said before kissing Luna’s cheek.

“Bye, Bellamy. Try not to piss off all your customers,” Luna teased, and Bellamy waved as she walked back out.

“You’re staying at Luna’s tonight?” Bellamy asked, leaning his elbows on the counter as he raised his eyebrow at Raven. “So, Clarke is going to be all alone in your apartment?”

“ _That’s_ what this is about?” Raven chuckled, and Bellamy’s jaw tensed. “Bellamy, Clarke is fine. She is a big girl. She can take care of herself.”

“She has an ex-boyfriend who is stalking her… an _abusive_ one. I’m sure she can take care of herself, but maybe it’s not a great idea for her to be alone in that apartment all night. What if this guy knows where you live?”

“Do you want to go check up on Clarke after you get off work?” Raven asked with a smirk.

“That’s not what I—”

“Oh, yes, it is. I have eyes, Blake. Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve rearranged her work schedule so she only works when you do, or that you’re constantly keeping an eye on her, or that you now go out of your way to try and make her laugh. I see what’s happening here,” she said with raised eyebrows.

“I don’t constantly keep an eye on her,” he grumbled. “Whatever, forget I said anything.”

But he couldn’t let that bad feeling in his stomach go as the night went on. So, he ended up calling Clarke as soon as his shift was over.

“Hey, is everything okay at the bar?” Clarke asked as soon as she picked up.

“Oh, yeah. I was just calling to check up on you,” he said as he got into his car.

“You don’t have to keep doing that,” she replied.

“I know… I just know that Raven is going to be out tonight…” he sighed, throwing his head back.

“Yeah,” she whispered, and Bellamy bit his lip. “I mean, it’s fine.”

“Clarke.”

“It’s just that it’s the first time I’ve been alone. It’s not a big deal or anything. I’m in a good part of town, we have a doorman. It’s not like I’m in any danger,” she said… but her tone sounded unsure.

“Would you feel safer if you weren’t alone?” he asked before hearing her sharp intake of breath on the other line. “You know, I wouldn’t mind. I could crash on the couch if that would make you feel better.”

“No, I’m not going to ask you to do that,” she argued.

“I do not mind,” he reiterated. He really didn’t. He would sleep better at night knowing that Clarke was okay anyway. If anything, this would be giving him peace of mind.

He started tapping on his steering wheel as he waited for her response. “Do you promise that you don’t mind?”

“I promise,” he smirked as he pulled his car out of the parking spot. “I’m heading over now.”

Raven’s apartment wasn’t too far from the bar, meaning Bellamy was knocking on the door just five minutes after hanging up the phone. When Clarke answered the door, her hair was thrown up into a messy bun and she was wearing an oversized t-shirt and athletic shorts… a much more casual look than he was used to seeing on Clarke.

The two of them settled on the couch, watching the dating game show that Clarke had talked him into giving a chance. By the third episode, Bellamy was hooked, shouting at the stupid contestant when she eliminated the only guy who had an actual job.

“You know all of this is fake, right?” Clarke laughed at him, and he couldn’t help but laugh at himself too.

“I mean, I figured. But if this girl ends up with the guy who has been living on his ex-girlfriend’s futon for the past two years, that is just bad writing,” Bellamy huffed, and Clarke’s laugh echoed throughout the entire living room. “Like she just threw away a guy who has health insurance and left herself with futon guy and this jerk who has an unhealthy relationship with hair gel.”

“Health insurance and a steady job sound so boring compared to Rick the uncertified masseuse,” Clarke deadpanned, and Bellamy had to bite his lip to keep from roaring with laughter.

“I should have been watching this years ago. I think I finally understand what women look for in men,” he teased, and Clarke threw her head back. God, this was probably the most he had ever seen her smile. Happy was a good look on her. “So, obviously I need to get rid of the bar and find a more exciting career.”

“Yep. The riskier the job the better,” she smirked.

“And girls clearly don’t like when guys own their own place. They prefer the kind that’ll move onto their futon,” he joked.

“I mean, I don’t exclusively go for futon guys. I’ve dabbled with the responsible ones too, but that doesn’t compare to the thrill of waking up in your boyfriend’s ex’s apartment with a crick in your neck from sleeping on a crappy futon,” she chuckled, leaning toward Bellamy a bit more.

“And I need to slick my hair all the way back.”

“Don’t you dare,” she warned, hitting his shoulder playfully.

* * *

After that night, his friendship with Clarke changed. They were a bit more affectionate at the bar, usually greeting each other with hugs. He spent more time with her outside of work, becoming a relatively permanent fixture in Raven’s apartment on the weekends.

When Raven brought up this change to Bellamy, she basically accused him of having feelings for Clarke. He should have seen that coming, especially given how much Bellamy and Clarke had been texting in the past few weeks or the way Bellamy was a little too happy when Clarke drunkenly cuddled up against him at Jasper’s last party.

“We are just friends,” he huffed, and Raven rolled her eyes at him. “And it’s not like Clarke is in a place where she would want to be anything more than that,” he blurted out before considering how Raven would take that.

“She tell you that?” Raven asked, and Bellamy swallowed. It wasn’t like he and Clarke had a conversation about it. He just assumed since Clarke didn’t seem eager to get out there and meet someone new that she wasn’t ready.

When the backdoor swung open, Bellamy shot Raven a warning look so she wouldn’t push the subject. He wasn’t sure what Raven was trying to do by bringing up the obvious. Maybe she was looking out for Clarke and making sure Bellamy didn't hurt her… which was a valid concern considering Clarke’s history, but it wasn’t like Bellamy was ever going to tell Clarke how he was feeling… at least not until he was certain she was ready for that kind of thing. Or maybe Raven was trying to dissuade Bellamy from having these feelings for Clarke because she knew Clarke didn’t reciprocate…

He tried not to overthink it as he got the bar ready to open. He knew there was a huge chance that Clarke would never return Bellamy’s feelings, which he was okay with. He just liked being close to her. He liked being the person she called when she was upset. He liked being the person she texted to vent about her day. He liked being someone that she could be comfortable around. If this was all he ever got, he would be okay with that.

When she came into the bar, Bellamy automatically held out his arm for their traditional hug. The hug lingered a bit longer than it probably should have, but Bellamy couldn’t bring himself to care. When she broke away, she started telling him about how she had gotten her art school application in, all smiles as she spoke… and Bellamy couldn’t help but grin back at her.

It was a relatively slow night at the bar, which was common for week nights. Plus, it was midterms week for the local college. But it meant that Bellamy had a bit more time to joke around with Clarke… which made it one of his favorite kind of nights.

“I wasn’t even paying attention,” he huffed as Clarke laughed at the snapchat she just took of him. “Who are you sending that to?”

Clarke was giggling as she scrolled through her friends list, and Bellamy tried to reach for her phone, but she pulled it away just in time. “Ooh, I bet Miller would find this funny,” she teased.

“Nope,” he snapped, now pulling Clarke back by the waist so he could get her phone from her. By the time he got the phone out of her hand, Clarke was giggling into him.

“Oops. I think I hit the send button,” she blinked innocently. With a groan, he handed her phone back.

“I hate you,” he grumbled.

“No, you don’t,” she teased, and a small smirk formed on his face. No, he didn’t hate Clarke and she absolutely knew it. “You got a big soft spot for me.”

“You’re okay,” he shrugged, realizing that he still had a hand on her waist. He let go finally, shaking off the warm feeling he had when he was touching her.

When she didn’t have a quip ready for him, he glanced back over at her, noticing her playful expression had been replaced with a more concerned one. He followed her gaze out to the window… spotting her ex about to come into the bar.

“Hey,” Bellamy whispered, grabbing her hand to get her attention. “Why don’t you go in the kitchen for a bit and send Murphy out here?” he suggested in the calmest voice he could muster. Clarke swallowed and nodded as she broke away, slipping into the kitchen just seconds before her ex walked in.

Bellamy was as polite as he could possibly be when her ex ordered a beer, gritting his teeth as the asshole made his way to his normal spot in the corner. When Murphy came out, it took him all of two seconds to put the pieces together. “How about I handle his orders for tonight?” Murphy offered, gesturing to the way Bellamy was gripping a little too hard on the counter.

“It’s fine. It’s not like he never comes in here,” Bellamy muttered. But Bellamy didn’t handle it well _any_ of the times that guy came in here, nearly decked him the time he asked if Clarke was working that night.

“Yeah, I’m gonna take his orders tonight,” Murphy decided, looking Bellamy up and down. Bellamy let out an annoyed huff. “Don’t even try to argue. I’ve seen what that tempers of yours can do.”

So, Bellamy stayed behind the bar, and Murphy intercepted her ex every time he wanted another drink so that Bellamy didn’t talk to him.

Bellamy kept himself distracted by talking with the few other customers they had, but one by one they all left. When it got closer to last call, Murphy took his break… meaning there was no one to stop Clarke’s abusive ex from coming up to the bar to talk with Bellamy.

“So, you’re Clarke’s boyfriend?” the guy asked, and Bellamy remembered the lie Raven had given him all those weeks ago.

“Yep,” Bellamy said curtly, before turning back to clean off the shot glasses.

“How is she doing these days?”

“She’s fine,” he replied, praying that this guy took a hint.

“I’m sure she’s talked to you about me,” he said, and Bellamy whipped his head around to look at the guy. Yeah… he had come up once or twice. “I’m really not as bad as she makes me out to be.”

Bellamy clenched his jaw, thinking back to how many times he had found Clarke outside on days that this jerk decided to show his face… sobbing by herself. He remembered how Raven just broke down the night she found out about what had been happening to Clarke, how scared she was that something was going to happen to her friend. And Bellamy has seen how happy and confident and comfortable Clarke could be, and he had seen how all of that would disappear the second this asshole came into the bar or when he would call her.

“We’re closing up soon. You need to close out your tab,” Bellamy said calmly, fighting every urge he had to yell at this piece of shit.

“What did she even tell you? Because from what I’ve heard, she’s been telling people a lot of exaggerations,” he continued, and Bellamy looked up to see if Murphy was back from his break yet… but he wasn’t.

“She told me the truth. Now, close out your tab,” Bellamy growled, sliding the bill to him.

“I just wouldn’t take everything she says as the truth. Love her and all but sometimes she can be a lying bit—” Without thinking, Bellamy punched him right in the face before he could even get the last word out.

“What the _fuck_?” Murphy shouted as he came back in, but Bellamy kept his eyes on Clarke’s ex as he fell off the barstool.

“Are you fucking insane?” the guy shouted as he rubbed his face.

“Nope. You, stop talking,” Murphy said as he rushed over to the guy. He gestured his head toward Bellamy before saying, “He will absolutely jump over the bar to hit you again if you do. And trust me, the second punch hurts worse than the first.”

Bellamy shook his hand, kind of pissed that punching that guy actually hurt his hand. “Murphy, did you punch him?” Raven shouted as she came out of the kitchen, followed by a wide-eyed Clarke.

“Would I be helping him up if _I_ were the one to punch him?” Murphy snapped, as he got that son of a bitch back on his feet.

“Get him out of here,” Bellamy growled, and Murphy started shooing the guy out of the bar. He let out a groan as soon as he saw a furious Raven Reyes storming over to him. “Don’t,” he warned.

“What happened to keeping your temper under control? You don’t just punch people, Bellamy,” she snapped, and Bellamy let out a breath as soon as he heard the front door close… _he was finally gone_. His entire body relaxed at that realization. “What were you thinking?”

“Raven,” Clarke snapped, and Bellamy’s eyes flickered nervously to her. “Can I have a second with Bellamy? You can yell at him later.”

Bellamy swallowed as Raven and Murphy headed back toward the kitchen, Raven grumbling in anger the whole walk back.

“Clarke, I—” he started to apologize. He should have kept his head on his shoulders… but he was just so angry that son of a bitch tried to put any of the blame on Clarke… clearly not realizing what a privilege he had to even be with her in the first place. It had haunted Bellamy too much in the past weeks… wondering how someone could ever _hurt_ Clarke Griffin, the smartest, kindest, most beautiful, and most honest person he knew.

“What did he say to you?” she asked, stepping toward him. “What did he say to make you snap?”

There was a slight panic in her eyes that he wasn’t used to, probably fearing whatever horrendous lie came spilling out of her ex’s mouth. “Nothing true,” he replied, and her eyes softened.

Next thing he knew, she was pulling him in for a hug, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her. They just held each other there for a few seconds, her arms wrapped around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispered before pressing a quick kiss to his cheek… a kiss that burned itself into his skin. He doubted the fire that her lips left on his cheek would ever fade. No, he would remember this exact feeling, probably for the rest of his life.

He knew he was blushing still when she pulled away, so he ducked his head to hide it along with the small smile that had been on his face ever since her lips first touched his cheek. “Hey, Bell?” Clarke whispered, and he tilted his head back up to look at her. She was biting her lip as she looked back at him, clearly debating something.

“Yeah?”

She opened her mouth, clearly wanting to say something, but then shut it quickly. He blinked a few times, confused by what could possibly be going on in her head. Then, she stepped toward him again, too close for Bellamy not to hold his breath in response. He felt like the world had frozen for a brief second when Clarke let her hand rest on his shoulder, inching closer to his neck. His heart was pounding by the time her eyes dropped to his lips.

He let his hand rest on the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. When her lips finally grazed his, Bellamy couldn’t stop himself from crashing his lips onto hers in response, pulling her tight by the waist against him.

When he finally pulled away, he was breathless as he rested his forehead against hers. “I guess I should go tell Raven she can come yell at you now,” Clarke teased, and Bellamy burst out laughing.


	3. When the World Turns Ugly I Just Turn and Look At You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the Tumblr prompt from short-hedgehog: Hey could you write a fic where Clarke feels insecure about her body weight (like how Octavia and Raven are skinner and less curvy than her) and Bellamy shows her that she’s still beautiful and gorgeous? Thank you so much!

When she got back home, Bellamy was fast asleep on the couch. She unpacked the groceries as quietly as she could, trying not to wake him. She let out a sigh as soon as she heard the sleepy, “Clarke?” coming from the other room.

“Sorry. I’m almost done,” she sighed, feeling guilty that she woke him up when she knew he was exhausted from staying up all night working on his thesis.

“It’s fine,” he grumbled as he stumbled into the kitchen, his curls all messed up from him running his fingers through them. He stepped around the island to pull Clarke in by the waist, pressing a sleepy kiss to her forehead. “How was your mom?” he murmured, and Clarke swallowed.

“Fine,” Clarke lied. Breakfast with her had been one of the worst ones Clarke had experienced. But it wasn’t for the usual reasons. Her mom didn’t get onto her about dropping out of med school or moving in with her boyfriend too quickly. In fact, the meal started off pleasantly enough. The two of them were talking excitedly about Harper and Monty’s wedding, and Clarke was showing her pictures of the bridesmaid dresses that she, Octavia, and Raven would be wearing. 

It wasn’t until her mom started listing off potential diets for Clarke to try that things got bad. Clarke was confused, especially because she hadn’t mentioned wanting to diet or anything. It wasn’t until her mom said something about how she wouldn’t feel all that confident if she had to stand next to Octavia and Raven at the wedding that Clarke realized what she was getting it.

Clarke knew that there was nothing wrong with her body. She made peace with how she looked a long time ago and was usually very confident. But her mom’s words struck a cord that Clarke had long forgotten about.

As breakfast reached its end, she told off her mom, and she apologized. But that didn’t do enough, apparently, because Clarke found herself checking the labels of literally everything she would normally buy. And it certainly didn’t help that in the bridesmaid group chat Raven and Octavia were debating about which size of dress to order, saying that with the measurements from the site they could both fit into a _size two_. With every message they sent, Clarke started panicking more and more about how she was going to look in the photos next to them.

She ended up making another lap around the grocery store, putting back half the normal snack foods that she and Bellamy kept in the apartment, opting for less high calorie options. She spent the whole drive home thinking over past diets that she had tried, debating about what kind of workout schedule she should try out in the few months she had left before the wedding. By the time she got home and started unpacking the groceries, she felt like she had a pretty decent plan for shedding off a few pounds before the wedding.

“Is she still mad we’re living together?” Bellamy huffed, opening up one of the bags and pulling out the bananas.

“I think she’s getting over that one,” Clarke said as she put the milk in the fridge.

“What the fuck are these?” Bellamy mumbled, holding up the healthiest chips Clarke could find in the store.

“Healthier chips,” Clarke replied, taking them out of his hands to go put them in the pantry. “I’m trying to cut down on calories before Monty and Harper’s wedding.”

“Why?”

Clarke turned around to see Bellamy narrowing his eyes in confusion. “I’m trying to lose a few pounds so I look okay in my bridesmaid dress.”

“But you’re already going to look fine in it,” he replied, and Clarke rolled his eyes. He just didn’t get it.

“Well, every girl dreams of her boyfriend saying she will look _fine_ ,” Clarke joked.

“Okay, first of all, you, Clarke Griffin, have never looked just _fine_ a day in your life,” he teased, and a smile tugged at Clarke’s lips. “Secondly, where is this coming from? You’ve known you were going to be a bridesmaid for a while.”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled, hoping he would drop the subject. She went back to putting up the cereal, but she could feel his eyes on her.

He was quiet for a few minutes, but he didn’t leave the kitchen. Finally, he asked, “Did your mom say something to you?” Clarke swallowed as she closed the pantry door, resting her back against it as she looked back at Bellamy. “She did,” he realized, throwing his head back.

“She wasn’t mean about it or anything and she apologized. But she’s right. So, I’m just going to diet a little and start working out again. It’s not a big deal,” Clarke explained quickly.

“Clarke,” he whispered.

“Honestly, I probably should have done this sooner. I really haven’t been watching what I eat lately. And I’ve been meaning to try out a couple of healthier recipes anyway,” she listed off.

“Clarke.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she argued. “And you’ve always been saying that I should get up to run with you in the mornings.”

“You hate running,” Bellamy reminded, raising his eyebrows at her.

“Well, I hate being the fat bridesmaid more,” Clarke blurted out, and his eyes softened as he closed the distance between them, pulling her into his chest… and that’s when her tears finally gave in.

“You know that’s not true, right?” he whispered, and Clarke buried her face into his chest.

“Yes, it is. I’m going to be up there with Raven and Octavia who are both just so gorgeous and skinny. And I’ll be standing up there right in between them with all the weight I gained in college that I still haven’t worked off,” she mumbled.

“Princess,” he whispered, and Clarke sniffled as she tilted her head up to look at him. “Do you really not know how beautiful you are?”

“Bell, stop,” she sighed.

“You are the most gorgeous person I have ever seen. You have no idea,” Bellamy said seriously, and Clarke pushed some of the tears off her cheeks. “You are perfect.”

“You have to say that because you’re my boyfriend,” she mumbled. And she knew that Bellamy found her attractive. It wasn’t like he was shy about telling her or showing her. But that didn’t make it any easier for Clarke to think about taking all those photos with Raven and Octavia. If she could just get down a dress size, it would be easier.

“Do you think I’m lying to you?” Bellamy huffed.

“No, of course not,” Clarke mumbled, but Bellamy already had that defiant look on his face like he always did when he was about to argue with her. “Where are you going?” she asked as he jogged out of the kitchen.

“Grabbing my phone,” he shouted back, and Clarke threw her head back. She wasn’t saying any of this so he would make her feel better. She was just explaining why she was on a diet because he wouldn’t just let the subject go. He was unlocking his phone as he walked back in, before thrusting it into Clarke’s hands.

“Why are you giving me your phone?”

“I want you to count how many photos of you I have on my phone,” Bellamy said, and Clarke groaned. “Humor me,” he snapped, and Clarke pulled open his pictures with a sigh.

“Well, the first three are of Murphy. Should I be worried?” she teased.

“He doesn’t react well when I call him ‘princess,’ so no,” he joked, and a giggle escaped Clarke’s lips as she started scrolling through. There were four of the two of them last weekend at the bar, another two from when Clarke’s phone died but wanted a picture of her and this funny sign she saw downtown. Then, she stumbled onto a few that Bellamy would have gotten off her Facebook.

“Oh my God, how many pictures of me to you even have on here?” she asked as soon as she got through a bunch of selfies that she had sent him _months_ ago. There were even a few from right before they started officially dating. “Do you just save every photo of me you find?” she teased.

“Yeah,” Bellamy said, and Clarke blinked a few times before looking up at him. “I’ve got a framed photo of you on my desk. You’re the background on my phone and computer. I literally can’t stop looking at you.” Clarke closed his phone as she leaned toward him, wrapping an arm around his torso.

“So, what I’m hearing is that you’re a little obsessed with me?” she tried to tease, but the joking tone fell a little flat as she met Bellamy’s piercing gaze.

“What I’m saying is that whenever I’m having a rough day or am upset about something, just looking at you makes me feel better,” Bellamy whispered, and Clarke held her breath. “ _That_ is how beautiful you are. So beautiful that just seeing you can make it all better.”

“Bell—”

“I like to swipe through my photos whenever I’m feeling nervous about a presentation because seeing you and your smiling face calms me down. I go through your Instagram after my advisor rips apart my drafts. I save your snapchat stories for when I need a pick me up in the day. So, believe me when I say that you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen,” he explained, and Clarke tilted her head up to press a slow kiss to his lips.

“I love you,” she murmured against his lips, and his lips quirked up into a smile.

“I love you too,” he replied, letting his hands fall to her waist. “And if you really want to start dieting, okay. I’ll support you and join in. But I don’t want you doing it because you don’t think you’re beautiful. You are so beautiful, and you need to know that.”

Clarke bit her lip as she gazed back at him. She knew he meant every word he said. Even if she wasn’t sure, the way he was looking at her would make her certain. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the world. “Thank you,” she whispered before crashing her lips back onto his.


	4. Is That My Shirt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt from youleftme-clarke: bellarke + "is that my shirt?" & "nobody in the world has hands this soft"? pleeeeeease
> 
> Alright, I ended up diving into canonverse for this one because I am feeling the season five angst these days. Hope you like it! It’s mostly fluffy, delirious Bellamy with occasional post Praimfaya Clarke angst.

“Clarke.”

Clarke lifted her head quietly, careful not to wake up Madi. She blinked a few times, seeing Murphy crouched down nudging her with his hand. “What?” Clarke whispered.

“Bellamy is hurt,” he said, and Clarke quickly untangled herself from Madi. She grabbed her leggings off the ground and started pulling them on, deciding not to bother with putting a real shirt on. Her sleep shirt was just fine for dealing with a middle of the night injury.

She followed Murphy out the door, waiting until the door was shut behind her before asking, “How the hell did Bellamy get hurt in the middle of the night?”

“Well,” Murphy said hesitantly, and Clarke stopped for a moment to glare at him.

“You two were sparring again,” she realized, before stomping toward the sound of Bellamy groaning. This was the last thing they needed. She understood the need to train. She really did. But the least they could do was wait to do it during the day time in case someone got hurt. 

When she got to Bellamy, he was propped up on the floor, holding a cloth to his forehead. “Hey, let me see,” Clarke murmured as she crouched down next to him, pulling the rag from his forehead. The cut was deep… deep enough that he would need a few stitches.

“Hey, princess,” Bellamy slurred, and Clarke jerked her head to glare at Murphy.

“Is he drunk?”

“No,” he replied, and Clarke’s eyes widened in panic. She took another look at Bellamy’s head, feeling around carefully for any large bumps.

“How hard did you hit your head?” she whispered, finally finding a knot starting to swell on his scalp. Murphy dropped the bag of medical supplies next to Clarke.

“First, I hit the table. Then, I hit the floor,” he murmured, and Clarke patted his cheek to keep him from drifting off to sleep.

“Do I need to get Monty or Harper?” Murphy asked.

“No, but will you go check on Madi for me?” Clarke asked, and Murphy took off for the door. She started sterilizing the wound, and luckily, Bellamy stayed perfectly still. “How long has it been since you last had to have stitches?” she teased, since she can’t imagine him getting injured a lot while up in space these past six years.

“Don’t know. When was the last time you gave me stitches?” he muttered, a bit grumpily.

“Well, it’s been at least six years,” she joked poorly. “This is going to hurt a little,” she warned. When his eyes started to close again, she said, “Bellamy, I need you to stay awake. Why don’t you talk to me a bit?” It wasn’t like she and Bellamy had gotten to talk much since he got back to earth. Too much had been doing on. There were rarely moments to sit and breathe. Figures stitching Bellamy up would be her first opportunity to actually talk to him… too bad he was probably concussed.

“Okay. See? I just talked to you,” he mumbled, and Clarke fought not to roll her eyes. She kept her attention on stitching him up. “Wait…”

“What?” Clarke asked.

“Is that my shirt?”

Clarke blinked a few times as she looked down… remembering that this was actually Bellamy’s shirt from years ago. She was soaking wet from the rain when she came back into the lab one day and changed into the first dry shirt she could find.  It took her all of two seconds to realize exactly whose shirt it was. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. I was kind of short on clothing those first few months. And it’s so comfortable that I like to sleep in it,” she confessed, leaving out the fact that she used to only sleep in it on nights that she missed him… but as the months turned into years, every night became a night that she missed him.

Bellamy winced again as she continued, and Clarke rested her hand on his cheek without thinking. It was the kind of gesture that had just become natural since finding Madi, so Clarke didn’t think twice about gliding her thumb across his cheek soothingly… until she remembered that this was Bellamy. She waited for him to say something about it, but when she looked back over at his eyes, they were shut again. “Bellamy, keep talking to me,” she snapped, and his eyes jerked back open.

“Don’t know what to talk about,” he slurred.

“Tell me the first thing that pops in your head,” she joked as she finished up.

“Nobody in the world has hands this soft.”

“What?” she asked, finally finished. She moved to put the kit back into the bag, but Bellamy whined as soon as her hands left his face.

“Forgot how soft your hands are,” he murmured, and Clarke swallowed. He was concussed. It wasn’t like he was really aware of what he was saying. He was just saying whatever drifted into his head at the moment. But knowing that did little to calm down her beating heart.

“Okay, we are going to have to stay awake for a little bit longer,” she said quickly, settling herself next to Bellamy.

“No, you need to go to bed,” Bellamy argued.

“I have to stay awake to make sure you stay awake,” she replied, patting his knee. Then, he grabbed her hand and interlaced her fingers with his. When she looked up at him, his eyes were fixed on the sight of their hands intertwined. “Are you okay?”

“What?” he asked, turning his head slowly to look at her… which was clearly a struggle. “Wait, is that my shirt?” he asked again, and an unexpected chuckle escaped Clarke’s lips.

“Yes, it is,” she answered again. “Don’t worry. I’ll wash it and give it back to you.”

“No,” he argued, his eyes lazily looking her up and down. “It looks really good on you. You keep it.”

“What? You didn’t miss this shirt up in space?” she teased.

“No, I just missed you,” he blurted out, and Clarke’s eyes locked with his. He was still a bit unfocused, but the seriousness was there just like she always remembered.

“I missed you too,” she replied, squeezing his hand softly.


	5. Fuck Finn Collins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt from anonymous: Do you think you could do a prompt with Clarke leaving finn at the alter and running to bellamy when she's still in her wedding dress? Pretty Please? With a cherry on top?
> 
> Okay, this one isn’t so much a “Clarke running to Bellamy” fic as much as a “Clarke storming over to Bellamy because she’s so mad at him” fic. But still featuring her leaving Finn at the altar and showing up to see Bellamy while still in her wedding dress, featuring a drunk, pining Bellamy leaving voicemails he should not and a hungover Bellamy finding a very angry runaway bride. Hope you enjoy it!

The first mistake Bellamy made was drinking the rest of the whiskey in his cabinet. But Clarke was getting married tomorrow and he was pissed that she was settling for some asshole like Finn Collins. For fuck’s sake, he cheated on Raven with Clarke. Bellamy didn’t care how much time had passed… Clarke should not have even forgiven him, let alone gotten back together with him. And Bellamy was also pissed at himself… not only for telling Clarke how stupid she was being when she announced her engagement, but also for not telling her how he felt before she got back together with Finn. Now, Clarke had no idea that he had been pining after her for years and was furious enough with him for disapproving of her engagement that she asked him not to come to her wedding.

The second mistake Bellamy made was drunkenly scrolling through his Instagram feed once he was in bed. All his friends went to the rehearsal dinner, which meant his feed was drowning in photos of Clarke and Finn looking all _happy_. Jasper and Monty posted a photo of them with Finn and Clarke, all raising their beers in a salute to the camera. Harper had posted a photo of all the bridesmaids with Clarke… and _fuck,_ Clarke looked beautiful. As much as he knew he needed to get off his phone and stop torturing himself with these photos, he couldn’t stop. He kept digging through their hashtag on Instagram, looking for any evidence that Clarke was actually going to be happy with Finn.

The third mistake Bellamy made was deciding to call her. It was something he would have never dared to do if he was not already drunk… or if there was someone nearby to stop him. And he probably should have hung up as soon as Clarke sent him to voicemail.

“Clarke,” he slurred, because God forbid he listens to the voice in his head telling him that this was a bad idea, “I just wanted to say I was sorry.” He paused, not sure where he was going with this. He really did not think this plan through. “I mean, I’m not sorry about what I said or anything. Finn Collins doesn’t deserve you and never will. Doubt anybody could.” Then, in a panic he hung up.

After a few seconds of thinking over what he just said, he realized that it was not an actual apology. Despite his better judgement begging him not to, he called her again. “Okay, listen,” he mumbled, sitting up a little straighter. “I am actually sorry for how I acted. You are probably my best friend, but don’t tell Murphy that or he’ll get jealous. I just don’t want you to be with someone who is going to hurt you again. So, uh, I’m sorry.”

When he hung up this time, something strange was churning in his stomach. He kept thinking back to how Clarke showed up at his door sobbing when she first found out about Raven, or the way that Clarke was too scared to try dating anyone else because Finn really fucked her up. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

“You know what,” he snapped on the third voicemail he left her that night, “fuck Finn Collins. There, I said it! He’s an ass. He broke your heart. I don’t have to explain why I said what I said to you. I am right.” He forced himself to take a huge sip of water, a desperate attempt to calm himself down. “So, now I’m mad at you, Clarke. I just tried to warn you about him. And you banned me from your wedding, blocked me on Instagram, and haven’t talked to me in weeks. So, now I’m all drunk because the girl I’m in love with is marrying an asshole tomorrow and I can’t do a damn thing about it. Fuck this,” he shouted before hanging up and throwing his phone across the room so he wouldn’t call her again.

He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep. All he knew was that he woke up to the sound of someone pounding on his door and a headache that was going to haunt him all day. He glanced over at the clock, realizing that Clarke’s wedding would be over by now, and his chest panged at that realization.

“Bellamy Blake!” he heard Clarke’s voice shout from the hallway, and his eyes widened in panic. Fuck, those voicemails. He left her drunken voicemails last night. Shit. “You open the door right this goddamn second!”

He was quickly throwing on a clean shirt before sprinting over to the door. When he opened the door, Clarke stormed in looking like she was about to punch him right in the face. “You have a lot of nerve leaving me those voicemails last night,” she yelled, and Bellamy closed the door behind her, blinking in confusion. She was in her wedding dress. Did she seriously come over here to yell at him after her wedding? “I wake up to three different voicemails from you after not hearing from you for weeks.”

“I’m sorry. I was drunk. I shouldn’t have called you,” he stuttered out, but he was having a hard time focusing with Clarke standing just feet away from him, perfectly made up for her wedding. She was absolutely beautiful, like she always was. Her hair was relaxed and curly, looking so soft that he wanted to run his fingers through the curls…

“You’re sorry?” she snapped, and Bellamy jerked his attention back into this conversation. “Why are you sorry?”

“I shouldn’t have called you like that. I said a lot of stuff I didn’t mean,” he clarified, but that only seemed to make Clarke angrier as she hit him on the chest. “What was that for?”

“Are you telling me that you didn’t mean it when you drunkenly told me that you were in love with me the _night_ before my wedding?” she asked, and Bellamy swallowed. Fuck, he had forgotten that he blurted that out.

“No, I meant that. I just shouldn’t have told you,” he stuttered out, and Clarke hit his chest again. “Did you come all this way to hit me?” he snapped.

“Yes,” she huffed, before hitting his shoulder again. “I woke up to three voicemails from you, the last of which you confessed you were in love with me. Then, I tried to forget those voicemails as I got ready for my wedding to Finn, but the whole time I was thinking about the jerk who drunkenly called me the night before.”

“Clarke—”

“I am not finished,” she snapped, wagging her finger at him. “Why the fuck did you wait until the night before? Why couldn’t you have said this, I don’t know, before I even got back together with him? Or before I started planning this wedding? Or even just a few weeks ago so I could have still gotten my deposits back?”

Bellamy blinked a few times as his eyes drifted to her hands that she was gesturing with angrily… there wasn’t a wedding or engagement ring on them. “You didn’t marry him,” he realized.

“Of course, I didn’t. The whole time I was walking down the aisle, your drunken confession was playing over and over again in my head. I got about halfway down the aisle before I realized the real reason I was so worked up over it, and I ran out of the church,” she said, now using both hands to swat at Bellamy’s chest before he caught her wrists. “Let go. I’m not done hitting you,” she huffed.

“Clarke,” he whispered, and her eyes flickered up to his. “Why did you leave Finn at the altar?” He had a feeling he knew the answer… but he needed to be sure. He needed to hear her say it.

Clarke swallowed, her eyes still defiant… so Bellamy didn’t let go of her wrists yet. As much as he probably deserved Clarke hitting him, he needed her to stop for a moment so they could actually have this conversation. “Because I don’t love Finn. It was a mistake for me to get back together with him,” she said carefully, and Bellamy narrowed his eyes at her. “But in my defense, the guy I actually wanted to date back then seemed to only think of me as his friend, so getting back together with Finn seemed like a good decision,” she kept going, furrowing her brows at Bellamy in an accusatory way. “I thought I got over it. And then that jackass calls me at three in the morning to tell me he’s in love with me, and next thing I know, I’m running from my own wedding to tell him off for not telling me this sooner because apparently, I’m still in love with him too. I swear to God, Bellamy, if you ever—”

He cut her off by crashing his lips onto hers. She mumbled into his mouth, but eventually she relaxed into the kiss. He let his arms wrap around her waist, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could. Her lips were just as soft as he had imagined them, and when her hand rested on his cheek, his entire body warmed at the contact.

“If you ever pull something stupid like this again,” she threatened once she pulled away, and Bellamy couldn’t help but chuckle, “I will do a lot more than pound on your door and yell at you.”

“Okay,” he chuckled, and she scrunched up her face. “I love you, by the way,” he whispered, figuring he should probably say it to her sober now.

“I love you too,” she replied, her eyes finally relaxing as he just held her there. “But if you and I ever get married, you are paying for the whole wedding since I’ve already had to pay for one,” she teased, and he burst out laughing.

She was kidding. But when that time came, he did pay for the whole wedding. It was only fair.


	6. I Know Who Oppenheimer Is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small drabble I posted when I was going off on a rant about the parallels I want in season five (basically an excuse for Bellamy to be thrown by history nerd Madi)

Bellamy didn’t like the idea of setting off the bomb, but they were running out of options and the bunker needed to be opened. He trusted that Raven and Monty knew what they were doing… but that didn’t make him staying behind at camp any easier. 

“Do you know why she needs copper?” Madi asked, shuffling through the scraps with a frustrated expression in her eyes.

“Something to do with fixing the radio,” Bellamy grumbled, remembering that he was _supposed_ to be helping Madi with this task. But his eyes kept drifting up over the trees, waiting to see the explosion in the distance. 

A whisper behind him broke him from his trance. He glanced back to see Emori talking with Clarke… a sight he still wasn’t used to. He nearly fell over when he first saw that flash of blonde amidst the trees, swearing he had seen a ghost. But she was here on Earth, and she was _alive_. 

When she turned around, Bellamy caught her eye for a brief moment before she turned to walk back inside. He let out a disappointed huff before getting back to work. When all of this was over, he was going to find a quiet moment to actually talk to her about what happened six years ago. It was a conversation he wanted to have immediately, but clearing the debris from the bunker took precedent over Bellamy breaking down over how much he missed Clarke up in space. 

“This is copper, right?” Madi asked, holding up a tarnished piece of metal.

“Maybe,” he murmured as he took a closer look. Then, he heard the explosion and his eyes shot up to the treeline. As he watched the smoke tear through the air, he had the strangest sense of déjà vu. “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds,” he remembered, thinking back to those drop ship days. A small smirk formed on his face at the memory.

When he glanced back down, Madi was furrowing her eyebrows at him. 

“It’s Oppenheimer,” he explained, realizing he probably sounded weird without an explanation for why he said that. “He was the man who built the first—”

“I know who Oppenheimer is,” Madi interrupted as she got back to sorting through the scraps. Bellamy snapped his mouth shut as soon as he realized that his jaw went slack at her words. _Of course_ , Clarke taught Madi about Oppenheimer. After all, it was Clarke that first gave him that quote all those years ago. 

“You look strangely happy considering we just set off a bomb,” Clarke teased as she walked up to them, and Bellamy realized that he had been smiling. 

“Got caught up in a memory, that’s all,” he murmured, turning to get back to work on sorting out the scrap metal. 

“He was telling me some quote by Oppenheimer,” Madi explained, and Bellamy bit his lip. When he glanced back up at Clarke, she was smirking at him… clearly remembering the exact same conversation he was. For a brief moment, it felt like no time had passed, that the two of them were still standing by the drop ship all those years ago. It felt like they were _Bellamy and Clarke_ again… something he hadn’t felt in six miserable years.


	7. Freckles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another little drabble from when I got stressed out about the state of Bellamy's freckles up in space.

Bellamy Blake woke up to the feeling someone’s finger tapping lightly on his cheek. He let out a groan and turned his head away, before hearing Clarke Griffin curse. 

“What are you doing?” he asked as he slowly blinked his eyes open. 

“Trying to count. Hold still,” she huffed, which  prompted Bellamy to sit up with a confused look on his face. “I’m counting your freckles,” she explained, as if that were a totally normal thing for her to do while he was sleeping. 

“Well, stop it and go to sleep,” he groaned, before lying back down and rolling away from her. She didn't protest. He heard her settle down next to him as quietly as she could, but now Bellamy couldn’t go back to sleep. “Okay, why were you counting my freckles?” he sighed, rolling onto his back because the curiosity got the better of him. 

“Because I don’t know how many you have,” she replied, and Bellamy turned his head to look at her. Clarke’s brows were furrowed as her eyes trailed across his cheeks. “It bothered me that I didn’t know,” she whispered. She didn't have to explain any further. Bellamy knew that she was talking about those six years. 

“I don’t even know how many I have,” he joked, desperate to get that sad look out of Clarke’s eyes. 

What Clarke didn't say was that during those six years she would try to remember exactly how the freckles were dispersed on his cheeks, counting them in her head on the nights where she couldn’t sleep. And she didn't say that as time went on it got harder for her to remember his freckles. 

“Okay, you can count them,” Bellamy finally said, letting out a sigh of relief as soon as Clarke’s lips form into a small smile. He closed his eyes, feeling Clarke’s fingers trace over his freckles as she counted quietly. Sure, he probably wouldn’t be able to sleep. But it would be worth it if only because it made Clarke smile.


	8. It's Complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt from anonymous: Can i please prompt exes getting back together? Thank you!!!!

“You were my first girlfriend, you know,” Bellamy said, and Clarke blinked a few times.

“Oh,” she remembered, completely blanking on those few weeks they tried to date their freshman year of high school.

“You forgot?” he chuckled, and Clarke shushed him before Jasper overheard this conversation. The last thing she needed was for him to overhear this story and have more material when he teased her about her not so secret crush on Bellamy.

“It shouldn’t even count,” Clarke muttered before taking a sip of her drink. The two of them had stayed on the porch when Octavia decided everyone else should play drinking games, watching from a safe distance so that they didn’t get dragged into whatever chaos Octavia had planned for this game.

“I took you to Homecoming, I asked if you would be my girlfriend, and we got into trouble for being too cuddly in the library. I got demerits for that, Clarke. It counts,” he teased, and she rolled her eyes.

“We were fourteen and broke up because you changed your relationship status to ‘it’s complicated’ as a joke. It does not count,” Clarke replied, and he dramatically rolled his eyes.

“It is not my fault you didn’t think it was funny,” he snorted.

“I thought it was you breaking up with me. Back then, changing your status on Facebook was a big deal, you jerk,” she replied, wagging her finger at him. His grin was growing by the second, and she just wanted to smack it off his face. It wasn’t fair that he looked like that when he smiled. It made it hard for Clarke not to just give in to the alcohol and smack a kiss on those lips just to make that smirk go away.

“So, you do remember. Therefore, it counts as an actual relationship. You were my first girlfriend and I was your first boyfriend,” he teased, and she smacked his arm.

“By your logic, Wells was actually my first boyfriend,” she joked, and he let out a huff.

“Damnit, Jaha,” he grumbled, and she burst out laughing.

“He and I lasted much longer than we did. We went to the eighth grade semi-formal together, he got me a corsage that was really itchy, and there are actual photos of us going on dates to the mall together,” she kept going. “And he didn’t change his relationship status to ‘it’s complicated’ as a joke.”

“Well, it sounds like I left you really heartbroken over that incident, huh?” he teased, and she made a big show of rolling her eyes.

“Obviously, I was devasted. Still am. For all we know, if you hadn’t done that, we would still be together and married with a few babies right now,” she joked.

“I know,” he said, a bit too seriously, forcing Clarke to turn back to look at him. His eyes matched his sudden serious tone, and Clarke held her breath. “My younger self was an idiot.”

“Was?” she teased, trying to deflect from the serious turn this conversation had taken. Maybe he had been drinking too much, although he had only had about as much as she had. Neither one of them wanted to get drunk, in case things got too out of hand tonight.

“Yes, was,” he huffed, and she forced out a laugh. They fell back into a silence as Jasper stood up and shouted at Octavia for tricking him into taking another drink, then she felt Bellamy slide a bit closer. “I was thinking…” She turned to look at him, his face a bit too close to hers. “You and I both have to chaperone the dance next weekend, right?” he asked, and she let out a groan. She had luckily gotten away with not having to get dragged into chaperoning prom last year, but she hadn’t found anyone to cover for her for next weekend.

“Yeah, no one else from the art department is going to be in town that weekend,” she groaned.

“Well, maybe you and I could suffer through it together,” he said.

“What? You think you could make up for the Facebook incident by taking me to Homecoming again?” she teased.

“Well, we could grab dinner first. Your mom won’t make us take twenty photos this time around. And I promise I won’t change my relationship status on Facebook without your okay first,” he replied. “As long as you promise not to get me in trouble with a librarian again.”

“Never in my life have I been so attacked,” Jasper shouted suddenly before marching dramatically toward Bellamy and Clarke. “Blake, your sister is besmirching my character.”

“I highly doubt that,” Bellamy smirked, sliding a bit away from Clarke… and she was a bit disappointed. “Hey, I just asked Clarke to be my Homecoming date.”

“Did you say yes?” Jasper screeched, and a blush crept onto Clarke’s cheeks. Bellamy raised an eyebrow at her, but his eyes almost looked nervous as he waited for her to answer.

“Only if he gets me a corsage this time,” she joked, and he relaxed a bit.

“Of course, princess,” he smirked, and Clarke stood up a bit shakily.

“Then, I say yes. Jasper, I’m gonna get you some water,” Clarke offered, walking back toward the house.

“Does this mean you’re finally going to date her?” she heard Jasper ask when she was almost out of earshot. She looked back, realizing that he was unaware that Clarke could still hear them.

“I’m fucking trying to, Jordan,” Bellamy replied, and a smile formed on Clarke’s lips.


	9. The Best Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr prompt from anonymous: Part 1:Hi! I got this idea in my head, but I suck at writing and you're my favourite so I'm giving It to you and hopefully you will be interested. Clarke and Octavia live together and they're cleaning the house in preparation for Easter party with the squad. Bellamy is helping them and he also has extreme crush on Clarke. Clarke listens to music in headphones while working and she sings out loud. Bellamy is really amused and gives her cute smirkes and other cute Bellamy shit. Double points if Octavia acknowledges that. I hope you can understand what I wrote lol, English isn't my first language and I just woke up. Have a good day! I don't know why I'm writing it to you I hope you don't mind! 
> 
> So, I made a few changes. Octavia and Bellamy live together instead of Clarke and Octavia. Also, I deviated away from Easter since that was a month ago (I'm gonna be better about getting to these prompts in a timely manner I swear) and went with graduation party instead.

“It’s your graduation party, Bell. You could at least pretend to be excited,” Octavia huffed, throwing her hands up in frustration. Bellamy probably should have seen this coming. After all, Octavia went all out for his high school graduation and his college graduation… he just figured she’d get tired of celebrating his graduations by the time he finished grad school.

“I am excited,” he forced himself to say. He was just not excited about having to clean their entire apartment only for their friends to drunkenly mess it up again.

“And the Oscar for most convincing attitude change goes to Bellamy Blake,” Clarke snorted before returning to blow up the balloon she was working on. Octavia hit Clarke’s shoulder in frustration, causing Clarke to lose grip of the balloon, and Bellamy tried to keep a straight face he watched it deflate across the room. “This is the last time I offer to help you guys.”

“Bull shit,” Octavia teased at the same time Bellamy said, “Thank you.”

“Since it’s my graduation party, I’m gonna go ahead and call dibs on not cleaning the bathroom,” Bellamy decided, and with a groan, Clarke put her headphones back in.

“Bell, I still have errands to run,” she argued, and he rolled his eyes. Of course, she decides to throw him a party and then sticks him with the actual work for it.

“Why can’t I run the errands?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as she moved to grab her keys.

“Because they’re super surprise errands that you can’t know about yet,” she said sweetly, and before he could argue, she was out the door.

He let out another exaggerated groan, waiting for Clarke to jump in with some teasing quip. When she was surprisingly quiet, he glanced over at her, seeing her swaying where she was sitting, listening to whatever it was that she listens to. He had been trying for a while to figure out what kind of music Clarke is even into because her Spotify choices have not given him a damn hint. Some days, it’s just straight up classical music, and other days, it’s the kind of metal that Bellamy would be scared to play in his car unless he wanted to destroy his speakers.

“Clarke,” he shouted, and her head popped up as she tugged a headphone out.

“Yeah?” she asked as she tied off another balloon.

“Did Octavia seriously decide to throw me a party and leave me all the actual work?” he asked, and a smile washed over Clarke’s face before she leaned back and started laughing.

“I tried to talk her out of it,” Clarke chuckled, shaking her head slightly.

“You let this happen,” he teased, which only made her erupt even further into laughter. He knew as well as she did that when Octavia made up her mind about something that she usually got her way. “You know, the very least you could do is help me with the bathrooms.”

“Excuse me,” Clarke deadpanned, waving the balloon she just tied off in the air. “I have very important artistic work to do here,” she got out before cracking a smirk and hitting the balloon in his direction. He smacked it back down, hitting Clarke. “Ugh, I hate you.”

“No, you don’t,” he reminded, raising his eyebrows at her. He swears he saw a slight blush in her cheeks as she turned back to her balloons… or maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part. He decided to go into the kitchen and grab the cleaning supplies from the cabinet before he let himself overthink this too much.

He and Clarke were friends, despite spending several years determined not to be. It was inevitable when Clarke moved across the hall from him and Octavia, since more evenings than not she ended up on their couch, playing referee when he and O would get into fights. Then, Octavia and Lincoln started dating, meaning him and Clarke were both suddenly without the one person they usually spent their time with… so they just kind of fell into being close friends. It wasn’t a huge shift, or anything. Just a lot of nights where they got take out as Bellamy wrote papers and Clarke sketched.

He wasn’t sure when he started seeing her as something more than a friend. Maybe it was inevitable after spending years trying to ignore those random thoughts he would have about how pretty she is or how nice her smile is. Or maybe it was just because this was the first time they were both single for this long. Or maybe it was because they had become more physically affectionate with each other in the last few months, snuggling a little closer on the couch as they watched documentaries late at night, hugging a bit more frequently than usual…

He had no idea if Clarke even felt the same way, but he decided it was something he could wait to deal with after he graduates. Miller gave him a lot of shit for it, but he had a good argument. He needed to stay focused on his thesis, and he couldn’t do that if he was brooding over the fact that Clarke didn’t feel the same way.

Although, Bellamy knew it was just him being too scared about what would happen to their friendship if he was wrong about Clarke feeling the same way.

When Bellamy came out of the kitchen, Clarke had her headphones back in and was mouthing the words to whatever she was listening to. God, she looked so relaxed and at peace today… a look he had been seeing a lot more lately. It was nice getting to see Clarke like this.

He shook the smile off his face as he got to work cleaning the bathroom, remembering that he was going to wait until tomorrow to figure out what to do about his mild crush on Clarke.

He finished cleaning the sink and begrudgingly decided to just close the shower curtain and hope that no one noticed that he hadn’t bothered to clean it. He stepped out of the bathroom to get a new sponge when he heard Clarke’s voice.

Well, her singing voice, more specifically. Bellamy tiptoed toward the sound, finding her in the kitchen, cleaning out the fridge. Her headphones were still in as she sang along to that new Panic! at the Disco song, and Bellamy couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

He really should go back to cleaning or at least acknowledge that he’s here, but there was something so endearing about how happy and carefree she was, how at home she felt here with him and Octavia. He wasn’t sure how long he stood in the doorway watching her, but he was jerked out of the haze by the sound of Octavia swinging the door open.

A blush crept to his cheeks as he tried to pretend like he wasn’t just standing there watching Clarke, but the look in Octavia’s eyes said that she wasn’t buying it. “Clarke,” Octavia shouted as she entered the kitchen, and Clarke tugged the headphones out and started helping Octavia find a spot in the fridge to put the cake in. Bellamy headed back toward the bathroom quickly, deciding to just make do without the new sponge since that was preferable than being in that kitchen when Octavia decided to tease him about Clarke.

He may have taken a bit longer finishing up the bathroom than he needed to, only stopping when Octavia walked in with a huge smirk on her face. “Don’t,” he warned, not knowing where Clarke was and if she could hear them.

“She’s back at her apartment getting ready,” Octavia said with a huge grin. He let out a breath as he stood up, and Octavia’s grin only grew. “So, is tonight the night you’re gonna tell her you want to have her babies?”

“Oh my God, stop,” he groaned as he brushed past her. He scanned the living room, and it looked about as good as it was going to get. “Let’s just get through tonight.”

“Hey, I am working my ass off on this party,” Octavia snapped as she followed Bellamy back toward his room. He refrained from pointing out that he didn’t want a party as he headed toward his closet. “Wear the blue button-down with the white stripes. It’s Clarke’s favorite.”

“What?” he asked, but Octavia was skipping out his door. He had no idea if this shirt was actually Clarke’s favorite, if she even had a favorite that she would tell Octavia about, or if his sister was just messing with him… but he went ahead and put it on.

He tried to shake Clarke out of his head as he finished getting all the food out. It helped that Lincoln and Miller showed up early and distracted him. In fact, he stopped thinking about Clarke altogether until she came back into the apartment when the party was already in full swing. He ignored the pointed looks that O was giving him as he went over to help her carry the beer into the kitchen. “Jasper showed up already kind of drunk,” Bellamy warned, and Clarke chuckled.

“I guess we know who is sleeping on your couch tonight,” she teased, and Bellamy rolled his eyes.

“Yes, happy graduation to me, I get a drunk Jasper on my couch and probably a drunk Murphy asleep on my floor,” he muttered, and Clarke bit down on her lip. “What?”

“Okay, don’t get mad at me,” she said as he sat the beer down on the counter. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she ducked her head slightly… and he couldn’t help but smile at her. “This party might totally be my fault.”

“What?” he huffed in mock anger, and she covered her mouth with her hands. Luckily, there was no one else in the kitchen with them, meaning Bellamy didn’t have to stress about Miller or Octavia teasing him for this.

“Okay,” she giggled, holding her hands defensively. “I just mentioned to Octavia that we should do something for your graduation. I in no way, shape, or form endorsed a party that you would then have to do most of the work for,” she explained, and Bellamy smirked at her.

“You told my sister we should celebrate, and you didn’t realize she would jump to a party?” he teased, nudging her shoulder with his.

“No, I said we should do something special. I mean, this is a huge deal, Bellamy,” she argued as she pulled the cap off her beer. “I figured we could do something small, I don’t know. I just figured we should do something special to celebrate,” she shrugged before taking a swig of her beer.

“I appreciate the attempt, princess,” he replied, pulling her in for a side hug. His heart skipped a beat as she lingered at his side, resting her head against his chest.

“You better. I worked my ass off on those balloons. That better be your favorite thing about today,” she snorted.

“Nah, I think my favorite thing was walking in on you singing along to your music in the kitchen,” he teased, although it was completely true. He snuck a look at her, seeing her entire face grow red from embarrassment.

“You heard me?” she huffed, hitting his shoulder, and he erupted into laughter. “You could have told me I was singing out loud. I didn’t notice I was doing it until Octavia gave me shit for it,” she kept going, squirming away as he pulled her back in by her waist. “You’re such an ass.”

“Hey, I said it was my favorite part of today,” he joked, and she scrunched her face up as she glared at him… and he knew that he was just beaming at her at this point. It was hard to hide this goofy grin of his when she was around.

“Clarke!” he heard Raven shout from the other room, and Bellamy let out a sigh. Moment over.

“I’ll be right back,” Clarke smirked, patting his arm.

“Nope. It’s my graduation party. You gotta hide out with me in the kitchen. Sorry, I don’t make the rules,” he joked, although he had already stopped touching her so that she could go.

“Like I said, I’ll be right back. You’ll hardly miss me,” she teased, before smacking a kiss right on his cheek. His jaw went slack as she turned away, but he managed not to actually touch his cheek until she was out of the room. He could feel all the heat rise to his cheeks as he tried to process what just happened. Clarke just kissed him. It was on the cheek… but still. It was the best thing that happened to him today.


	10. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from anonymous: bellarke + "i died six years ago too, when i left you behind"

“What the hell is going on with you?” Bellamy snapped, and Clarke threw her hands up. “These are our people, Clarke.”

“Yeah? Do you even recognize them anymore?” she said, whipping her head around. It had been a whole day since she and Bellamy had entered the bunker, and Clarke still couldn’t shake off the panic that seized her body when she looked around that fighting ring. Each conversation she had with someone she once knew was a horrifying reminder that nothing was the same. She expected things to be different. She was different now. “Look, I don’t want to fight with you, but you know that Octavia—”

“I will make Octavia see reason,” Bellamy interrupted, crossing his arms. Clarke’s lips twitched at that. Did he not see what Clarke saw? Did he not hear the way that Octavia blamed him? She wasn’t the same sister that he left behind in the bunker. Six years of not having to answer to anyone had changed her and having her brother back wasn’t going to magically change that.

“She is going to take them all to war. You and I know how that will end,” Clarke said before biting the inside of her mouth. Six years apart and somehow the two of them ended up in the exact same place again. The difference was that Clarke said that her fight was over when she aligned that dish, and she meant it. She was done fighting. She was done giving up what little remained of her soul to save people who seemed dead set on fighting and killing each other until there was nothing left. “I just want to get back to Madi and steer clear of the bloodshed. You can come with me, but I am leaving.” She turned around quickly, knowing just how easily looking into Bellamy’s eyes would cause her to waver. But she couldn’t afford to be weak, not with Madi out there and two armies about to slaughter each other. She spent six years with only Madi, not sure if it would ever be more than just the two of them again. She could survive it again.

“Who are you?” Bellamy shouted out, and Clarke paused, still refusing to turn back. “Where is the Clarke who shut the drop ship door? Who pulled the lever at Mt. Weather? Who destroyed the City of Light?”

“She died six years ago,” Clarke shouted back, turning around to face him. She gave herself up to save her friends, condemning her to be alone. She was left behind and broken, having to stitch herself back together by herself. She wasn’t Clarke Griffin anymore. She wasn’t Wanheda. She didn’t know who she was now, but she certainly wasn’t the girl that Bellamy left behind.

His face faltered as he worried his bottom lip, and Clarke knew she picked the wrong choice of words. It wasn’t fair of her to throw that back at him like that, especially when she knew that he spent six years thinking he actually did leave her behind to die. It was what she wanted him to do, and she was proud of him for making that impossible choice. It wasn’t his fault that he came home, and Clarke was someone different.

“I’m going back to Madi,” Clarke whispered, turning around again.

“I died six years ago too,” Bellamy said so quietly that Clarke barely heard him, “when I left you behind.” Slowly, Clarke shifted to face him again. His eyes were teary as he looked at her, but not the happy tears that he had when they first embraced a day ago. No, these were the same tears that were in his eyes when Clarke walked away after Mt. Weather. “Don’t go,” he whispered, and Clarke’s lip started to quiver. “I can’t do this again, not without you.”

“Bellamy,” Clarke sighed.

“Just try to talk to Octavia with me. Then, we can go get Madi, I promise,” he pleaded, and she bit down on her lip. With a sigh, Clarke started walking back toward him. “Together?” he asked, and Clarke swallowed. He reached down and grabbed her hand, squeezing it lightly.

“Together,” she whispered back.


	11. Would You Have Said Yes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt from anonymous: Hey can you do single mom clarke cause i love those and Bellamy meeting her and being like head over heels but she cautious cause she doesn’t want her and her kid to be let down again and just him showing her he’s devoted and just domestic fluff please 
> 
> Sorry this one took so long. I got a sudden feeling of inspiration when I talked to my mom this weekend and she told me this story about how two of her coworkers started dating a decade and a half ago. I would go in to work with my mom a lot in the summers and just hang out in the cubicle. One day, she had a meeting and had me go hang at one of her coworker's desks, and he kept me entertained with jokes and whatnot until she could come back. Apparently, this girl he liked at work was really overwhelmed by how good he was with kids, and long story short, but at the age of 8 I was one hell of a matchmaker. So, I threw some of that into this. Hope you like it!

The most infuriating thing about Bellamy Blake was that he actually turned out to be a nice guy. It was easy for her to ignore how attractive he was when she thought he was an asshole… but then he just _had_ to prove that he wasn’t, which ruined everything.

It’s how Clarke ended up developing a harmless little office crush on him. It wasn’t anything serious… Clarke didn’t do serious. She learned a long time ago that having a kid and dating usually didn’t mix, and she’d hate for Madi to get attached to someone else who might leave Clarke and her in the end. It was easier to just not get seriously involved. So, a harmless crush on the guy in the cubicle next to her seemed like a pretty safe bet…

… that is, until he asked her out. Upon seeing the panicked look on her face, he immediately backtracked on the offer, probably worried that he misread something… which of course, he didn’t. Clarke had been practically drooling over him for weeks now. “I just… It’s complicated because I have a kid,” Clarke finally stuttered out, and he narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but I shouldn’t.”

“Okay,” he replied, a question still in his voice as he spoke… which was how Clarke ended up telling him the entire Finn Collins saga, complete with how attached Madi got to him at such a young age all the way to how Clarke found out about Raven Reyes. It all happened when Madi had just been with Clarke for a year, so the feeling of abandonment she felt when Finn stopped being around was really difficult to remedy. “Hey, I get it,” Bellamy reassured with a small smile that didn’t quite cover up the sting of Clarke’s rejection. “If I had known about all of that, I wouldn’t have put you on the spot like this.” Clarke opened her mouth to offer another apology, but he stuck up his hand to stop her. “We’re good, princess,” he smirked before ducking back into his cubicle.

 

* * *

 

When the babysitter called in sick, Madi immediately lit up with excitement because she knew that it meant she got to go to work with Clarke. It didn’t happen often, just on snow days where it was bad enough for school to get cancelled but not bad enough for Clarke to miss work and on summer days where the babysitter couldn’t come in. Madi gathered her things quickly as Clarke called Jaha to make sure it was okay that Madi came in with her. Jaha didn’t care, mainly because Madi was at an age where she could take care of herself for the most part. Her being there wouldn’t interfere with Clarke heading off to meetings, and she is a pretty well-behaved kid in the first place.

“Who’s the hobbit?” Murphy asked as he walked by her cubicle. Clarke spun around in her chair, raising an eyebrow at him. Luckily, Madi thought it was the funniest thing and erupted into giggles.

“My daughter. Babysitter called in sick so she’s with me today,” Clarke replied.

“Wait, little Griffin is here?” Bellamy called out in the cubicle beside her, and she heard his chair squeak when he got up to walk over.

“Madi, this is Bellamy,” Clarke introduced, and Murphy seemed to be bored with the conversation and shrugged away. “He’s like my next-door neighbor.”

Madi narrowed her eyes up at him, taking a momentary break from unpacking her the stuff she brought to keep busy in order to assess him. “You don’t like whistle all the time while you’re working, right?” she asked.

An accidental snort escaped Clarke before she remembered to say, “Madi!” Luckily, Bellamy thought her question was hilarious, especially given how much he’d listen to Clarke rant about her previous cubicle neighbor’s endless whistling.

“Sometimes, I read emails out loud, but if that gets annoying, just do what your mom does and throw a paper ball over the cubicle wall,” he teased with a wink before stepping back into his cubicle.

 

* * *

 

Clarke was walking back to her desk after a conference call, feeling a bit worn out from going over something that could have been covered in a quick email for forty-five minutes with Kane. Right when she was about to turn the corner, she heard Madi giggling.

Clarke furrowed her eyebrows as she looked into her cubicle, not seeing Madi in her normal spot. The giggling was coming from Bellamy’s cubicle. She tiptoed over, seeing Madi sitting next to his desk as Bellamy’s head leaned back, trying to balance a pen on his nose. “Hard at work, I see,” Clarke teased, catching Bellamy so off guard that he slipped backwards, and the pen fell to the floor, which made Madi’s laughter only louder.

“You messed me up,” he mumbled, as he scrambled to grab the pen again. “We had the timer going and everything,” he said very seriously, and Clarke struggled to keep a straight face.

“It was about to fall anyway,” Madi pointed out, and Bellamy let out a mock-offended huff.

“Ye of little faith,” he sighed as he put his pen back in the drawer. “Everything go okay with Kane?”

“Yeah,” she groaned.

“Are we going to get lunch now?” Madi interrupted, and Clarke had been so rattled this morning that she had forgot to think through lunch for Madi. Usually, Clarke just grabbed a protein bar from the vending machine, despite Bellamy’s constant lecturing.

“Yeah, let me go grab my purse,” Clarke replied before walking back over to her cubicle, and she could hear Madi mumbling something to Bellamy.

“Can Bellamy come?” she asked, and Clarke froze in her tracks, thankful they were on the other side of a cubicle wall and couldn’t see her reaction. It took Clarke a moment to remember that it was just lunch. It wasn’t like she and Bellamy hadn’t grabbed lunch before. Clarke just didn’t expect Madi to warm up to someone so quickly.

“Bellamy, you’re not too busy?” Clarke asked, giving him the opportunity to turn this down without upsetting Madi.

Bellamy popped his head over to her cubicle with an eyebrow raised. “Depends. Do I need to get that file into Kane by one?” he asked, knowing full well that he had until the end of the day to get it in. He was just giving Clarke the same opportunity to turn this plan down if she wasn’t comfortable with it.

“No,” she smiled with a sigh, and he narrowed his eyes at her, studying to see if she was really sure she was okay with it.  She nodded again, which seemed to reassure him.

 

* * *

 

It shouldn’t have surprised her that Bellamy was good with Madi. He was good with everyone’s kids when they came to the office. He seemed to have a natural gift with it, which made it really hard to ignore those feelings that she had been trying to bury since he asked her out. She found herself getting lost in watching them talk at lunch. It was like the two of them had been coconspirators forever. Bellamy didn’t talk to her like a child, a mistake most adults made with Madi, and he kept her talking about things she was interested in. And Madi seemed rather taken with him, something kind of rare for her since she is normally someone who gets that comfortable around adults she doesn’t know well.

Clarke was sad when lunch was over and they had to go back to work, and she mentally lectured herself the entire drive back, reminding herself of why she had to reject Bellamy. Yes, he was good with Madi today. But Clarke could already see Madi getting attached again, and the most important thing for Clarke was to protect Madi from getting hurt again. So, she needed to push her feelings for Bellamy aside.

Jasper swung by the cubicle, asking if Madi wanted to help him decorate the conference room for Monty’s birthday, which Madi jumped at excitedly. She was gone for a total of thirty seconds before Clarke heard Bellamy rolling his chair out of his cubicle and awkwardly scooting it toward hers. “Hey,” she chuckled.

“Hey,” he said, a bit more pensively.

“You okay?” she asked, cocking her head to the side. He ran his fingers through his hair, a habit that Clarke found incredibly distracting.

“Yeah, I just… are we okay?” he asked, and Clarke raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. “You were just really quiet at lunch, and I was worried I crossed some kind of line today because I know we talked about this but—”

“We’re okay,” she interrupted, though he didn’t seem sold on her response. “I was just distracted, that’s all,” she said, leaving out that he was what was distracting her.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he studied her more closely. “Was it because I asked you out last week? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said quickly. “I mean, yes, that’s why I was distracted, but that’s not on you. It’s not your fault that I couldn’t say yes,” she mumbled before she realized what she just blurted out. His eyes widened a bit before he caught himself, and Clarke bit down on her lip.

“Would you have said yes if things were less complicated?” he whispered a bit quieter.

“Yeah,” she admitted, looking down at her hands. Before she could go further, Jasper jogged back toward them, excitedly asking Bellamy to go keep Monty distracted. Clarke opened her mouth to protest him leaving, but it was too late. He passed her a reassuring look and took off toward Monty’s desk.

 

* * *

 

When Clarke came back into work the next day, this time without Madi since the babysitter was back, Clarke buried herself in paperwork. She had gotten to work early, trying to make up for how distracted she was for all the afternoon yesterday. She jumped every time she heard the main door open, just waiting for the moment that Bellamy walked back in. When it turned out to be someone else, she would let out a breath, relieved that she had a few more moments to figure out what the hell to say to him.

Then, Jaha stormed into her cubicle with news about a crisis she needs to help him with, which meant Clarke was dragged away from her desk for the rest of the morning and her lunch break.

When she finally got back to her cubicle, she was starving and ready to stab anyone that looked at her the wrong way. But on her desk, she found a McDonald’s bag, complete with all her favorite fast food for when she got too stressed. With a smirk, Clarke carried the bag over to Bellamy’s cubicle. “Thought you might be hungry,” he teased as he spun around. “You might want to heat it up, though. I didn’t know when you’d be back, and it’s been sitting there for an hour.”

“I will. Come with me,” she asked, gesturing for him to follow her toward the breakroom. It was empty when she got in there, which made sense since everyone else would have taken their lunch break, you know, _during_ lunch. “About yesterday…” Clarke started as she got her food onto a plate.

“You don’t have to explain,” he interrupted. Before Clarke could argue, he continued, “Look, I was raised by a single mom. I wish she had been as concerned as you are about dating and who she let us become attached to. Seeing guy after guy walk out our door messed me up for a long time.”

Clarke stopped what she was doing to look up at him. He wasn’t looking at her. He was resting against the counter, bracing his hands on either side of him as he looked out across the room.

“And Madi is a really good kid. I would hate for her to go through what my sister and I did, so I understand why you said no,” he said very seriously. It wasn’t that Clarke thought he wouldn’t understand, but she didn’t expect him to understand and respect her decision this well. Too many guys had thrown her rejections back at her as excuses for being scared of relationships, which was partially true but still an aggressive and disrespectful way to handle a rejection.

If there was ever anyone that Clarke could trust not to hurt her and Madi, it would be Bellamy, she realized. He was always taking care of Clarke in small ways. He clicked with Madi immediately, connecting with her on a level that hardly any other adults bothered to. He understood where Clarke was coming from. He understood that Madi was always going to come first.

And given what he just told her, Clarke didn’t think he would just break both their hearts and disappear without a word.

“Ask me again,” she blurted out, and Bellamy’s head whipped in her direction, his eyes wide with confusion.

“Clarke,” he stuttered out when he realized what she meant, “I don’t know what you’re—”

“I have a different answer this time,” Clarke said, and he blinked a few times before his eyes softened.

“Really?” he asked, almost suspiciously.

“Yeah,” she replied, and slowly, that perfect smile of his formed on his lips, mirroring the smile on hers.


	12. Happier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompted by anonymous: Hey Alex. Your fics completely cheer up whenever I'm in a depressive state. I've read them all so many times. They're incredible. Unfortunately, my boyfriend broke up with me a month ago I guess hes an ex now and I'm confused and broken and Ive been listening non stop to ed sheeran's song "Happier". I was wondering if you could write post break up bellarke fic based kinda on the song, but with a happy ending from bellamys pov? I need a pick me up and a little bit of hope in my life tbh.. 
> 
> The happy ending at the end is sort of ambiguous, but I fully intend for you to assume that the conversation goes well and they end up back together. Hope you like it!

He wasn’t planning on stopping by Octavia’s party, using the fact that he was working late as his excuse. But when Pike announced that Bellamy could clock out early, he knew that he had to at least swing by. If Octavia found out that his schedule opened up and he didn’t stop by, he’d never hear the end of it.

It wasn’t like Clarke ever stayed at parties long, anyway. He probably wouldn’t even see her. She likely left an hour ago, since she was probably too tired from a shift at the hospital or had one early tomorrow morning. So, he took a few deep breaths before heading over to his sister’s apartment.

The party was still raging on when he walked through the door, and Miller immediately put a beer in his hand. “How have you been?” he asked, and Bellamy just shrugged. Miller looked over at Jackson, and Bellamy didn’t miss the concerned look they exchanged. Yeah, they were worried about him, but he was fine.

“There you are!” Octavia shouted before he heard the sound of her loud feet rushing toward him. He turned to be ready for her hug, chuckling quietly at her excitement to see him. “Isn’t this a fun party? You’re so happy you came, right?” she asked, her words slurring together, and he had to fight not to roll his eyes. She was drunk.

“Yes,” he replied, patting her on the head as he surveyed the room. No sign of Clarke, thank God. He wouldn’t know what he would say to her if he saw her again. It was inevitable that he would, so he probably should figure something out. But he needed more time to get over the sting of losing her.

He plastered on a smile as Octavia dragged him through the apartment by his hand and introduced him to all her work friends he hadn’t met yet. She ditched him to go whine to Lincoln about something, and Bellamy settled in next to Murphy as he downed the last of his beer. He looked over his shoulder into the kitchen, spotting those fake margarita beer drinks that Octavia had recently gotten upset with and let out a sigh. “The good stuff is out on the patio,” Murphy explained, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God,” he muttered before making his way out there.

He probably should have known that there would be one or two partygoers who would be out there. It’s the only quiet place to be at an Octavia Blake party. Bellamy had ducked out here enough times to know that.

But nothing could have prepared him for finding Clarke and Roan out there together. He freezes for a moment at the sight of Clarke curled up against him with her legs in his lap. It took him a moment to realize that she was asleep, and he probably would have laughed at the fact that Clarke Griffin fell asleep at yet another party if it weren’t for the fact that she was literally sleeping on Roan.

He clenched his jaw as he fished out a beer from the cooler. He shouldn’t actually be surprised. He and Clarke broke up. She was going to start seeing other people. He couldn’t have pushed her away any harder, if he was being honest with himself. But Bellamy had somehow put the prospect of Clarke moving on out of his thoughts, meaning he was blindsided by this.

“Oh hey, man,” Roan said, tearing his eyes away from his phone to nod at Bellamy. Bellamy nodded back, grinding his teeth together as he did. Without a word, he walked back into the apartment and took a seat at the empty kitchen table, one of the few spots in the room that gave him a decent view of what was happening on the patio. Maybe he just wanted to torture himself, but he couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off the two of them as Roan’s hand traced up and down Clarke’s back.

“Didn’t you start this whole thing?” Jasper asked as he sat on the table, swinging his legs back and forth so that he occasionally hit Bellamy.

“Yes,” he huffed, and Clarke started to stir outside. She rubbed her eyes as she pushed herself up, and Roan put his phone down to say something that caused Clarke to erupt into laughter. His chest panged as he saw her bright smile. He couldn’t even remember the last time he saw her smile like that.

“So, why are you acting like she broke up with you?” Jasper muttered, and Bellamy took his eyes off Clarke for a moment to glare up at him.

“Jasper, I’m not in the mood,” he snapped. When his eyes returned to the window, Roan and Clarke had stood up and were facing away from him. Both her hands were braced on the railing in front of her, but Roan was still rubbing her back.

The fact that it was Roan shouldn’t have surprised Bellamy. He had always had the suspicion that Roan was attracted to Clarke, and it wasn’t like he could blame Clarke for becoming interested in him once she became single. He was an attractive guy, one that her mother would definitely approve of. He’d probably fit more into Clarke’s world than Bellamy ever did.

Jasper was still mumbling something when Bellamy pushed away from the table. He wasn’t going to sit there all night watching the ex-girlfriend he was still in love with flirt with Roan, so he ducked into the kitchen, which was empty. He hopped up onto the counter and let out a breath.

He tried to distract his mind, but the image of them together kept popping up in his head again. Bellamy could see them together so clearly, now. Roan didn’t pick fights with Clarke like Bellamy did, no, he was far more relaxed and easygoing. He was also not the kind of guy to screw around when it came to talking about how he felt. Clarke must love that since she doesn’t have to guess what Bellamy’s thinking anymore or deal with his freak outs when things got a little too serious. She found herself someone who would be upfront with her, and it’s what she deserves.

He pressed his lips together as he heard the patio door swing open. “Jasper, are you ready for more shots?” he heard Roan tease, and Bellamy threw his head back. God, Roan was even more fun around Bellamy’s friends. “Clarke?”

“Oh, God no,” Clarke giggled, and it was such a sweet, happy sound… and why wouldn’t it be? Clarke seemed to be happy, probably happier than she had been with Bellamy. There was a quiet mumbling out there as Bellamy heard Jasper skip after Roan. “What?” he heard Clarke say, and he hit his head against the cabinet behind him.

He fucked up. God, he fucked up. He was falling too hard and fast for her and got scared. Everything with Clarke felt so natural and normal, and it scared him how easily he could get comfortable with her, especially given how things went with Echo and Gina in the past.

All he could remember was how much he hurt before, and his stupid, _stupid_ self did what he always did: pushed her away before she could push him away. And now she was gone. He couldn’t blame anyone but himself for the way he picked that fight.

He was taking another swig of his drink when Clarke strode into the kitchen, freezing as soon as she saw him. Her brows furrowed as she gave him a once over, and his heart pounded as he waited for her to say something.

“Octavia said you had to work tonight,” she finally settled on, and he fought not to roll his eyes at the fact that the two of them could only seem to make small talk now.

“My shift ended early, so I stopped by,” he shrugged, and she nodded along. Her brows were still furrowed, and he could tell that she had something to say to him. But of course, his jealousy was still festering under the surface and he said, “You seemed to have a good nap outside.”

Her eyes widened at him, and he immediately regretted it. She was free to do whatever the hell she wants, after all. He shouldn’t try to make her feel bad for moving on. But of course, he always said the wrong thing at every given opportunity.

“It was a long day,” she settled on, and he nodded along, keeping his eyes fixed on the almost empty beer in his hand. “Actually, I was just about to leave. I should go find your sister before I go,” she muttered before turning to leave, and Bellamy hit his head on the cabinet again, cursing himself for pushing her away again.

He listened as Clarke gave her goodbyes to their friends. Monty said something to make her laugh, and he found a smile tugging at his lips when he heard that beautiful sound. She talked with Harper, he thinks, for a minute… and the ease with which she speaks to everyone causes his chest to pang. She used to be able to talk to him that way.

Maybe he should find a way to be happy for her. After all, she seemed happier now with Roan. And Clarke deserved to be happy. He wanted her to be so happy.

When the front door shut, he let out a breath. He survived seeing Clarke tonight, barely. The panging in his chest probably wouldn’t go away any time soon, though he wasn’t sure if it ever left.

He was coming up with excuses to leave the party too when Roan came into the kitchen. “What’s wrong with you?” Roan snorted.

“Nothing,” Bellamy lied.

“So, it has nothing to do with the fact that you saw me with your ex?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as he filled a cup with ice.

“Clarke can date whoever she wants,” he replied.

“I’m not dating Clarke,” Roan corrected, and Bellamy hated how easy his own face gave his reaction away. Roan smirked at him, pleased that he had finally broken Bellamy out of his fake indifference. “I don’t make a habit of dating girls who are still in love with their exes.”

“Clarke isn’t—”

“She is,” he interrupted. “It’s annoying, honestly. Full offense intended, you were a dick to her in the end.”

“I know,” he huffed, throwing his head back. He didn’t need this lecture from Roan when he had been giving it to himself all night. “It’s how I know she isn’t still hung up on me.”

“Interesting,” Roan muttered as he walked back toward the door, “then, why is she still in the parking lot, crying in her car?” Bellamy’s head snapped up to look at Roan, whose eyebrows were raised at him as he looked over his shoulder. “Don’t fuck it up this time,” he huffed before walking back out to the party. Bellamy jumped to his feet, abandoning his beer on the countertop before striding toward the front door. He didn’t bother telling anyone where he went. Everyone was too drunk to notice he was gone, anyway.

When he got down to the parking lot, he found Clarke’s car in the very back. He jogged toward her car, and as he got closer, he could see her talking on the phone as she wiped a few tears from her cheek. He felt sick at the realization that he was the reason she was crying. He never wanted to hurt her. After all, he loved her… probably a little too much. He was just scared.

Clarke’s eyes widened when she spotted him, and she said goodbye to whoever she had been talking to. He stood still as she pushed herself out of the car, her brows furrowing in confusion as she looked up at him again. “What are you—”

“I miss you,” he interrupted, and her eyes softened. “I’m sorry. I know I don’t get to just… Fuck,” he mumbled. He hadn’t thought through what he would say to her at all. He hadn’t been thinking when he rushed down after her. All he heard was that she was upset because of him, and he couldn’t stay away.

“I miss you too,” she said before he could stutter anything else out. Her blue eyes were staring back at him, still a bit red from crying. All he wanted to do was close the distance between them and pull her to his chest.

“Can we talk?” he asked, and she bit down on her lip. Her chest was rising and falling slowly as she took a few deep breaths.

It felt like hours had passed before she whispered, “Yeah.”

A flicker of hope scorched through him as the two of them sat down on the curb. He was going to tell her everything that he didn’t say before. He was going to make it right. And maybe, just maybe, she’d let him try to make her happy again.


	13. Stop It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I made that crack tumblr post about how if Bellarke were soulmates in the "whatever you write on your skin shows up on your soulmate's skin" universe, Bellamy wouldn't figure out he saw a soulmate because of Clarke's pretty doodles but instead Octavia would start drawing all over him and Clarke would write "stop it" which would scare the crap out of the Blake siblings. Anyway, I got enough requests to actually write it, and here it is.

“Stop,” Bellamy groaned. When he heard Octavia put the cap back on the pen, he let out a sigh of relief. His mom had gotten her all sorts of colored pens for the first day of school tomorrow, and Octavia decided to test them out on Bellamy’s arm. For the last ten minutes, she’s been putting small dots up and down his arm, ranging from pink to green.

Bellamy flipped the page of his book when he felt Octavia mark his arm again, this time with a red pen. “O,” he snapped. A small giggle escaped her lips, and he rolled his eyes.

His mom peered her head out of the kitchen. “I’m not doing anything,” Octavia lied.

“She’s drawing all over my arm,” he said, holding his dotted arm as proof.

“Octavia, if Bellamy asks you to stop, you stop,” his mom said sternly. “Bellamy, it will wash off. It’s only a pen.”

The two of them settled back onto the couch quietly. As soon as the phone rang and mom picked it up, Octavia had the purple pen out and was poking dots repeatedly on his elbow. “Mom just told you to stop,” he huffed, jerking his arm away from her. His eyes scanned his arm, seeing an entire rainbow of dots and scribbles his little sister left on him. Then, he saw a small line in black pen, which his sister hadn’t used. He narrowed his eyes at it, swearing it was growing. Slowly, that little line turned into an ‘S,’ followed by a ‘T.’

“O,” Bellamy whispered, glancing over to see if she was seeing this too. Her eyes were wide as she watched the movement on his arm.

“Mom!” she screamed as the letters spelled out _STOP IT_ in loopy, messy handwriting.

“Mom!” he joined in, staring at the letters that formed on their own on his skin. His mom came sprinting in with a panic. He held his arm out, showing her the words on his arm. “It just appeared out of nowhere.”

“I didn’t write it I promise,” Octavia started to cry, and their mom let out a breath as she came toward them.

“I know,” she whispered to Octavia. She settled down on the couch with them. Octavia crawled into her lap as Bellamy slid closer, offering her his arm to look at.

“Was it a ghost? Did a ghost write on my arm?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“Bellamy, do you know what a soulmate is?” she asked, and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Everybody has one. It’s someone that you’ll eventually meet. They could be your best friend or a future spouse. They’re a very special person.”

“How do you know it’s them?” Octavia asked, and their mom tapped the written words on Bellamy’s arm.

“Whatever they write on their skin shows up on yours too,” she said, and Bellamy’s eyes widened. He stared down at his arm, examining the circle the ‘I’ was dotted with and the all caps letters. His _soulmate_ wrote that. “Just like whatever you write on yours will show up on theirs. So, I bet all these little dots Octavia drew are on their skin and they were just asking you to stop.”

“Oh,” Octavia mumbled guiltily.

“So, this isn’t anything to be scared about,” she reassured both of them. “Okay?”

Bellamy nodded, still not taking his eyes off his arm. He felt his mom kiss the top of his head, and he scrunched his nose. She said something about getting back to making dinner, and he felt Octavia tuck herself against his side.

“Aren’t you going to write back?”

“Give me a pen,” he said, and she giggled as she handed him the pink one. He narrowed his eyes at her until she gave him a blue one instead.

For a few minutes, he just stared at his left arm, wondering what to write. He had the pen hovering over his wrist, pondering if he should apologize or just say hello.

 _Hi_ , he wrote, hating that his handwriting was so bad. His soulmate probably couldn’t even read it. He stared at his arms for a few minutes, waiting for a response.

“Bell!” Octavia screamed as a slow line formed on his right arm.

 _Hi,_ his soulmate wrote back. It was real. He really had a soulmate who was writing back to him. Bellamy didn’t have a lot of friends at school other than Murphy. He was more likely to be reading books during recess than talking to other kids. He spent all summer stressing out about going back to school, especially since Murphy wasn’t in his class this year. He really only talked to Murphy and Octavia. So, a strange excitement took over him when he learned he had a soulmate who could one day be his best friend.

 _I’m Bellamy_ , he wrote as slowly and carefully as he could, working hard to make his handwriting as good as possible.

 _I’m Clarke_ , his soulmate replied after a few minutes. When he looked up, Octavia was smiling at his arm.

“Can you write that I’m sorry for putting dots all over Clarke's arm?” she asked. It took him a while to write it all, and by the time he was done, their mom was calling them in for dinner.

Halfway through eating, he looked down at his arm to see that Clarke had responded. _It’s okay. I liked all the colors_.

When he showed Octavia what Clarke wrote, her smile lit up. “I bet _Clarke_ likes the pink pen,” she said, sticking her chin up defiantly.


	14. Worth a Thousand Words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meg prompted: "You're my plus one to this wedding and the photographer took many shots of me because I'm the maid of honor and wow, there's a few in which we look so in love, possibly more so than the bride and groom." 
> 
> So, I threw in some roommates!Bellarke because I love being able to shout "oh my god they were roommates" to myself while writing. Hope you like the pining fluff!

“Have you looked through them yet?” Raven asked.

“Not yet, just now getting home,” Clarke explained, shuffling the phone to her other ear as she dug her keys from her purse. “But I will look through the photos.”

“Well, get on it,” she snapped.

“Okay, how about we resume this conversation when you’re back from your honeymoon, huh?” Clarke smirked as she unlocked her door. “Go have sexy time with Zeke.”

“We just did, and now I want your reaction to the wedding photos,” she whined. “There are some… interesting photos of you.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, dropping her purse on the kitchen island. Bellamy’s head perked up when she walked in, waving at her form the couch before looking back at his laptop. “So, you’re calling me between sex sessions to berate me into looking at photos from your wedding?” Clarke huffed on her way to her bedroom. “Shouldn’t you be spooning instead?

It hadn’t even been four days since the wedding, where Clarke was the maid of honor. The whole week before had been stressful for Clarke, since she had been running last minute errands and keeping the rest of the wedding party from getting alcohol poisoning. The only reason she relaxed at the reception is because she brought Bellamy with her. He kept her out on the dance floor, cracking jokes and getting her to smile all night.

“We are spooning,” Zeke shouted into the phone, and Clarke let out a groan. “Go look at the pictures!”

“See? Miles here agrees with me,” Raven teased, and Zeke grumbled in the background.

“I’m hanging up now. Use protection,” Clarke huffed before ending the call. She tossed the phone onto the bed before changing out of her work clothes and into her leggings and a sweatshirt. “Raven is being really weird,” she grumbled as she stepped back out into the living room.

“Weird how?” he asked, not looking up from his laptop. Bellamy had moved in after Raven moved out to go live with Zeke, meaning he and Clarke had been roommates for more than a year now. He was also her best friend, though sometimes she caught herself longing for more. It was an easy enough thing to ignore usually, but taking him as her date to the wedding made it hard to shake from her mind. He was so sweet with her all day, helping her out when she had to put out wedding day fires, making her laugh whenever she wanted to cry from stress, and getting her to relax enough to actually have fun during the reception.

“She keeps hounding me about looking at the photos from the wedding,” Clarke muttered, plopping down on the couch beside him.

“Oh,” he whispered. “Well, uh, here.” He slid his laptop into her lap where he already had the photos pulled up. “Raven sent them to me like an hour ago.”

Clarke snorted as she began flipping through, wondering what the urgency was. Clarke wanted a break from this wedding, and she could definitely use a few days before being reminded of how badly she wanted to kiss Bellamy out on the dance floor…

… but if Clarke really wanted to avoid that reminder, she shouldn’t have started flipping through the photos because there that moment was, captured in a photograph. They were dancing to a slower song, Bellamy was laughing at something Clarke said, and Clarke’s eyes were lingering on his lips for just a moment. If the camera flashed just a beat later, it would have been missed. Clarke fixed her expression before Bellamy ever looked back at her, shaking all longing from her eyes to go back to being his best friend. But the camera caught it, which meant Bellamy did see how she looked at him.

She switched to the next photo quickly, feeling Bellamy’s eyes heavy on her. Her throat was dry as she tried to pay attention to the other photos, panic rising in her chest. It was only one photo, though, which meant she could play it off as a fluke.

Except it wasn’t just one photo. It was another photo taken at their table where Bellamy leaned in to whisper something to her and the camera caught her mid laugh. And another where he dipped her on the dance floor and they both had these beautiful smiles plastered on their faces as they looked at each other. A shot during the send off where Clarke was beaming up at Bellamy as he tried to get his sparkler to light. A picture of Bellamy’s back when they had one last slow dance for the night, where Clarke’s head rested on his shoulder, her eyes fluttered shut, and the most content smile rested on her lips.

She let out a breath when she got to the toast pictures, relieved for a break from her lovestruck eyes gazing at Bellamy. In the picture, Clarke had her eyes fixed on Zeke and Raven, a soft but nervous smile on her face as she stumbled her way through the toast.

But in the background of the photo was Bellamy, staring at Clarke with gentle eyes and a small smile on his lips. He was looking at her like she looked at him in all the other photos, a little lovestruck and full of adoration. There were at least four pictures of her toast, and in all of them, Bellamy looked a little bit in love with her.

“Need anything from the kitchen?” Bellamy asked, jerking her eyes away from the screen for a moment. She had gotten so lost in the pictures that she forgot Bellamy was sitting right there, looking at the same photos and watching her reactions.

“I’m good,” she choked out as he made his way toward the kitchen. As soon as he was gone, she flipped back to the first photos of them she found, this time paying attention to his face. There was a soft smirk on his lips as he leaned in to whisper something. A smile matching her own happy one as he dipped her. A blush on his cheeks when Clarke beamed up at him.

Her cheeks went flush and her chest grew warm as Clarke realized she wasn’t the only one who looked madly in love in these photos.

She shut the laptop when Bellamy came back in, ducking her head to conceal her giddy smile. “So, tell Raven you saw the photos so she’ll leave you alone,” he told her. He picked up the remote and turned on the TV while Clarke shot Raven a quick _thank you_ text. They had settled on House Hunters when Raven texted back saying, _Zeke and I are rooting for you two_.

Clarke curled up into Bellamy’s side, humming happily when he put his arm around her. She didn’t bring up the pictures… not yet, at least. Right now, she was just relieved to know he had been pining after her this whole time too.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated. hit me up on tumblr or twitter (@asroarke)


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